To Let Go
by I'mBelleGoose
Summary: After Bishop takes rein over Morganville, Shane, Eve and Michael leave. Now, '2 years' later, they return to see what has become of their sweet Claire Danvers.
1. Chapter 1

We drove slowly back into the town limits of Morganville. From what I already knew about this city before I had left with my two friends, it was a devil town (run by the devil, at least). Their curfew was a little more strict than most, but that was because of their fear of too many 'kids' getting eaten by the vampires. By 'kids', that meant young adults, teenagers. Mostly, anyway.

My friends, Eve and Michael, and I were driving to city hall; this is the point where we'd mention we were back in town. Our old friend's house would be first stop after that. We had left for two years, but this was the base in which our futures were. As well, we'd have to find anyone we used to know and find out who was and wasn't dead.

Bishop was the name of this devil-man. He had taken the town away from it's previous owner two years ago and it was after everything changed and Morganville became too dangerous that we had decided to leave. He loved the power and pain he was now able to force on everyone after the town had been handed over. Yes, it had been two years and many things had changed. People were no longer safe wandering the streets, many we knew were probably dead, all hope was lost.

But not Bishop.

The sky had dark clouds blocking out the sun and mostly everything that we passed was of large fields with yellowing grass and nothing else. There was a section of the town we drove through that actually had buildings. I'd be lying if I said they hadn't surprised me. They were all made of brick and were either a dark grey or black. And, as we drove on, this seemed to have been all the shops Morganville had anymore, as much of the town had been destroyed. There were houses here and there spread out among everything and after we passed a house, more and more fields of dead grass.

Quite honestly, I was dreading moving back here; it was no lie and it was no secret. At last, we arrived at city hall, which-again to my surprise-was entirely rebuilt and looked better than before. Surely, Bishop wanted to make the mayor happy and not start causing havic or worry. Of course, that sounded just like what would be bargained with from mayor Richard Morell. I never had like him much. Michael helped Eve up the steps and opened the door for her as, well, she was about five months pregnant with his baby. They had always liked each other-since we were in middle school, but they hadn't gotten together until about a year before we left Morganville. We were all at about twenty now, and had been eighteen back then.

"Well, well, well. Isn't this a surprise. Eve? Michael? And-oh, boy. That you, Shane?" Asked the mayor.

"No, sir. My name's Adonis-I hail from Olympus. I was told to escort these two to your office personally by Zeus." I said sarcastically. Michael shook his head at me.

"Yup, Shane, all right. Same smart-ass sarcasm. Better watch it, though-or you'll regret it." Eve glared at me, probably hoping it would stop me from continuing. Didn't work.

"Why is that? You'll let Bishop know I've returned?" The mayor shook his head.

"No. I won't tell you where that Claire Danvers girl of your's is these days." All of our head's snapped to him and our mouths stayed shut. Claire; she was the only thing going through my mind, it was like a broken record that had just been set on a track.

_Claire, Claire, Claire._

"She-she's still here?" I asked in shock. "I mean, I know it's been two years, but I hadn't expected her to still be around. I'd figured she'd left by now." And look at that. Two years of her trying to bring him down and she still hadn't accomplished it. The mayor looked confused by this.

"Shane, it hasn't been two years."

"What?" Of course it had been two years, I had marked off the days, months and years on the calender myself. "Then just how long would you say it's been?"

"Six." I laughed at this and shook my head.

"Six months? Wow, I must have seriously miscounted." Eve and Michael chuckled and rolled their eyes at me.

"No. Six _years_." Our laughs stopped short as we met eyes with his. I shook my head in disbelief and began to laugh hysterically.

"Yeah, okay-no, no!" I slammed my hands down on the desk he sat behind and Michael stepped forward, too.

"There's no way we were gone for six whole years and only counted off two in our heads." Michael said in frustration. Before the mayor could respond, someone else did.

"You weren't."

All of us spun around to stare at Amelie (seated in a chair in the corner by the door); a vampire and the one who'd been the ruler of Morganville before Bishop had taken it from her.

"What do you mean we weren't?" Eve asked in frustration. "Can someone explain what's going on?" Amelie nodded.

"Since you've left Morganville, and since Bishop has taken over, everything in town has malfunctioned. The correct way the humans are fed from, most shops, the radio towers...even time." She stood up and walked towards the mayor's desk, then continued to the large window that sat behind his desk and looked out over what was left of her poor town. She wore a black suit and her pale hair was up in a bun. This was unusual, as she usually wore a light grey or blue suit. "It _has_ been two years-for the rest of the world. For Morganville, it has been _six_. Claire is no longer a seventeen year old child and, these days, is older than you. You are all about twenty, she is twenty-one and heading on twenty-two."

"Uh, but, Amelie, I don't understand. How is that?" Michael spoke up for all of us.

"You have aged only two years, she has aged six." Amelie turned back to us. " I do not have enough time for the many questions I'm sure you have. I have things to do and I must leave now. Just remember-I faked my death five years ago. Bishop thinks I'm dead; I'd like to keep it that way." With this, she nodded and walked out of the mayor's office, closing the door behind her.

We had had a fight just before we left and she had got left behind. We had been dating for several months, living together, even. Then, when Bishop had taken over Morganville and things had been getting dangerous, Eve, Michael and I had decided to leave, start a new life somewhere else. We had told her that day we left and asked her to come with; she would not. She was still hopeful that Bishop would be brought down and determined to be a part of it. That was one of the things I had loved about her.

**Disclaimer; I do NOT own any of these characters. They all belong to Rachel Caine.**

**I pushed forward an idea that was nagging in the back of my mind. Please tell me what you think.**


	2. Chapter 2

We left the Mayor's office, and proceeded back toward the Glass House; to see what had become of our home.

It was a long, silent drive as we witnessed every part of town that now lay in mere ruins, due to Bishop's rule. I, for one, never broke my unblinking stare from the dreaded streets-hoping to catch sight of Claire. Did she still work for Amelie? Still wear her bracelet? Was she safe right now...or had Bishop gotten ahold of her and begun using her for his dirty work? These were only some of my questions. I still had many more, and, if I was lucky, they'd be answered soon.

716 Lot st...

Nothing how I remembered. Eve gasped in shock as Michael and I sat in our horror-filled silence. Bishop had ruined the town, left holes and cracks in buildings, left people on the street even more fearing for their life; left Morganville _broken_...but what awaited us on Lot st. was _shredded_. Ripped. Torn. Every house had broken windows, doors barely hanging on by the hindges-loose and crooked. No one lived in these houses, that was evident.

By some outrageous miracle, the Glass House was in the best condition of all the houses here. It had one broken window on the top floor and it looked as if someone had thrown things against the sides, but it seemed redeemable, nonetheless. Michael and I both helped Eve from her seat out of the car and up the steps, stopping hesitantly at the door and glancing at each other. Neither Michael nor I seemed ready to take the risk of finding an intruder inside-or even worse; a vampire.

It was Eve that stepped forward. "Boys," she sighed, clumping into the house and down the hallway as if it was still our's. We both hurried after her, but quickly got caught up in surroundings as we realized that every bookcase, every peice of furniture_ was exactly as we'd left it_. It seemed even through all the chaos, and everyone that had come to hate us in Morganville, everyone was so preoccupied with Bishop's wrath, they hadn't bothered to even _enter_ the house, let alone _destroy_ it.

My thoughts were interrupted as I, even from the hallway could hear the gasp that escaped Eve from the living room. I immediately forgot what I was doing and joined her and Michael. At first I didn't know what they were gaping at, then I saw him-in the deepest depth of the farthest corner...

Francois. In a cat-like position, eyes steady, focused, ready to pounce at any given moment. We all stood frozen.

A loud screech and thumping was heard from up above.

"Aah!" The girlish voice squeeled. "Sam is going to love this book!" And there stood Miranda, coming down from the stairs, dragging someone alongside her.

"Sam, who?" Asked the unrecognizable girl with a blank, somewhat bored expression. Miranda stopped in her tracks just as she'd entered the room.

"Sam; Samuel Glass, of course. He always did like to read about shapeshifting and such...or was that the scientist-Mer...Mer-something." The other girl, which also had black hair, broke from Miranda's grasp and started to head toward Francois.

"Myrnin. And it really doesn't matter whom liked shapeshifting, since they're both dead." I was surprised to hear the scientist had died, though Sam's death was already known-Bishop had done it himself at a ball about '6 years' ago. But the way this other girl said it, with no emotion, no sympathy; I felt Michael flinch beside me and Eve wrapped her arms around him in comfort. I folded mine in anger.

"No he's not. Sam's not dead. You silly girl." Mir laughed. "What lies are Bishop feeding you? You really shouldn't believe everything he says." The other stopped just in front of Francois, still in position, whom looked a bit awkward now.

"I don't have to hear Bishop's words to believe; I saw Samuel Glass killed-I watched him die, back when I was still human." She said with a straight face, still no emotion. Her black eyes penetrated Mir, which had finally stayed silent, and her waist-long black hair swished as she turned back to Francois. "Leave them alone. They have done nothing to us. Besides, I have what we came for; Bishop will be pleased." I'd be lying if I said I wasn't honestly shocked that this emotionless girl-whom worked for the Devil, himself-had no desire to harm us. I was, however, wary to what she had taken from our home.

Mir turned and looked at us for the first time, realization dawning on her face. "Hey, guys! Wow, it's been so long-gee, how long has it been...?" Her voice wandered as she went into thought.

"Six years." We all said at the same time, staring as Francois and the girl headed toward the kitchen, dissapearing completely. I didn't know about Michael and Eve-okay, I knew about Eve-but this was the same insane girl that tried to kill Eve, claimed to have visions and was a maniac fang-banger; I still wasn't trusting anything she said. Especially since she had _just _noticed us, even though we'd been standing nearly side-by-side.

The fridge, freezer, cabinets and pantry were all empty of food and beverage, so we called to order burgers of the miraculous fast-food numbers on the fridge that had also stayed untouched.

"Billy-Ray's Dry-Cleaning," a monotone male voice answered, waiting. We all sat around the phone as it was on speaker-phone and looked at eachother in confusion.

"Um, no, actually." Spoke Eve. "I was kinda trying to call this really kick-ass burger joint; Up 'n Down?"

"This used to be a fast-food place, but not since you know who showed up. Sorry." We hung up and began to go down the list, losing more hope with each place that no longer remained. About a third of them weren't even occupied by another company, but empty. It took half an hour and second-to-last on the list until we found someone still in business. A pizza place; which wasn't the worst, all things considered. To both my and Michael's utter horror, Miranda got to stay and she and Eve were hitting it off again, even after all these years. She was surprised Eve was pregnant; didn't even kno that vampires could reproduce.

"-I mean honestly, look at Amelie; okay, bad example. Ysandre, Francois, Myrnin, Oliv-no, no, nevermind. Um, Samuel. None of them ever had kids." Michael's attention caught at this as he looked at her.

"That's because they never tried hard enough," he said seductively, wiggling his eyebrows as he chomped on his peice of pizza. Both girls laughed loudly as I choked on my own pizza.

We all stayed up so late, talking and enjoying being home (just slightly), that I stumbled into my room and flopped onto the bed, falling asleep immediately.

I woke to the bright light that streamed down upon me from the window. I forgot where I was, at first, then everything came flooding back, overpowering me. I instantly set the most challenging, yet rewarding goal for today...

Today was the day I was going to find Claire.

To see what had become of her. The fact that she wasn't here said she was hiding out somewhere else. I was getting out of the shower and beginning to dress as I began to make a mental list of the places she was likely to hide out.

Gramma Day's, University dorms (since Monica would no longer be there), Myrnin's old lab-

"Shane!" Eve pounded on the door. "Please, just give me a minute." I quickened my hairgel spreading, and washed my hands swiftly. "Shane!" The pounds were louder now. "I have to pee! Haul ass before I have to kick down the door; you know I will!"


	3. Chapter 3

I flung the door towards myself and nearly ran out, letting Eve through. She was actually doing the potty dance, thighs connected, calves and feet spread. The door slammed in my face just before I turned and headed downstairs. I walked through the livingroom, nodding at a guitar-toting Michael, and into the kitchen. I could've sworn something felt strangely off, but told myself I had just been gone way too long, grabbing a leftover peice of pizza as breakfast.

"Hello, Shane." Said a very calm, yet commanding voice. I looked down.

"Yes, Satan?" The voice came again, but from my right.

"Shane, I'm here on business." I looked over to see Mayor Richard Morrel sitting calmly at our inordinarily small kitchen table.

"Wait, how were you able to get in? You're human. Shouldn't the Protections have kept you out once Michael entered the house?"

"No. You heard Amelie yesterday; she's trying to appear dead to Bishop for long enough as to raise a real army. How do you think it'll look if only the things she could control were still fully active? Not well." I sighed and pulled out the only other chair.

"Alright. What are you doing here? What business?" Richard just stared.

"Amelie sent me. She knew you were probably going to do something stupid-she asked me to make sure that doesn't happen...I think it's time you and me had a little talk." I shook my head.

"Dude, I am_ not _talking to you about the birds and the bees. So I disagree on this talk." He just continued to stare, with all seriousness. Then, slowly, started to sit back in the chair.

"I hope you're not going out to find Claire Danvers." I could hear even from the next room, that Michael was listening and now bringing a satisfied Eve into the kitchen. They stopped when they entered and stared at me, waiting for an answer.

"Yes," I said. "I was." Richard shook his head now.

"There's no need for that. I can tell you where she is." All of us froze and listened intently, though he moved his lips, it was a female voice that came out.

"The cemetery." Amelie stood infront of the sink, wearing black, still.

" You mean she spends her time at the cemetery these days?" Asked Eve. Amelie turned her emotionless face on her.

"No, Eve. I mean she's dead."

**Disclaimer; I do NOT own any of these people. They all belong to Rachel Caine.**

**I know you may be upset with me, but don't lose faith, I PROMISE it gets better-keep reading. And remember that things aren't always as they appear.**


	4. Chapter 4

"What...what do u mean Claire's-no, not claire-she can't be...be..." The pregnant goth girl almost fainted, but the blonde male vampire caught her swiftly. Everyone else in the room was frozen as the dead, which only braught more meaning to their shock. The big guy with the shaggy hair jumped from his seat.

"Yeah, right, Amelie." So she was still alive afterall..."You're sick." He said in disbelief as he began to leave the room. Her voice stopped him.

"After you all left, she felt alone. Unwanted. Unwantable. So the day that Bishop, Francois, and Ysandre showed up at the doorstep and asked for her allegiance...she complied. She turned her back on everyone as she felt you did to her. From there, for the next several months, she worked for him-tracked down people and helped bring them in, delivered death warrants and found comfort in his company.

Bishop began to grow tired of Claire and her building hostility toward everyone; felt that she'd turn her hostility toward him, I'd suppose. This scared him and it can only be noticed how bad she had truly become, considering Bishop was afraid of a mere human. Therefore, he ordered her to wait just inside town limits, but far enough so no one would be near. He met her there later when he had a few hours to spare. He raped her, then drew a butcher knife from his belt. Cut her into the tinniest of peices and shoved those peices into a potatoe sack. Left it by the highway and walked away. She suffered pain greater than any of you could imagine. Heartbreak, lonliness, depression, hatred, sexual abuse, physical pain...and fear, itself." Everyone of them was still frozen, including the Mayor. They sat in shock inside as I listened and watched from the other side of the wall, outside the house. The male holding the goth girl was the only thing that kept her up,the Mayor was seated and Amelie was all around emotionless as this was not news to her. The other male, though, fell to his knees.

"I have lost many, due to Bishop." Amelia spoke, again. "Oliver, Myrnin, Claire, Samuel and many, many more. However, there are a few that have learned to adapt and survive; Richard, myself, even Jsaon Rosser-you can find him at the police station." I could hear, even from outside, that she had the slightest of smiles on her perfect face.

"Ha!" The goth girl scoffed. "Where _else_ would he be?" Amelie adjusted and walked a few steps to the now-open seat, relaxing into the chair.

"Mr. Collins. Claire became obsessed with bringing loved one's back from the dead. She and Myrnin worked together on this, even though she stood on Bishop's side. Just before she died, she tried to bring back five people. They were picked at random and the most successfull was the second one. Can you tell me who you think she was able to bring back?" The guy that had dropped to his knees, looked at Amelie.

"Sam Glass?" Amelie stared at him, before the parted her lips.

"Alyssa Collins." Came her firm voice. The guy-Collins-did a double-take.

"Are you telling me that my sister's out there, right now, just leisurely living her life?" Amelie nodded.

"That's exactly what I'm telling you. This was done about five years ago. She's seventeen; the same age she would've been right now had the fire not occured." Collins sank even deeper into shock and disbelief and the male vampire had to continue his hold on the other girl. "And one more thing. Do you know the young woman that came through here with Miranda and Francois yesterday? With the long, black hair?" The three nodded. "Her name is Faylinn Lorien." I nearly flinched from where I stood, hearing her speak my name. "Be cautious with her-not just around her, but anything to do with her. Bishop made her a very special one. She's the youngest vampire, but very unique-has a special gift." They all stared at her, awaiting her answer. "Faylinn Lorien; she's immune to the sun...and _very_ dangerous." They were all looking around at eachother when Amelie got up and joined her entourage in the livingroom, leaving.

"What're we going to do now?" Asked Collins.

"For once, Shane, I don't know." The vampire answered.

"They're isn't anything _to_ do." said the goth girl. "Unless we want to go out to town, see who's still alive; see if we can find 'Lyssa...?" It was a question, now, for Collins.

I took this as my leave.

Unlatching the radio from the belt on my own gothic ensemble, I pressed the 'Call' button and awaited a reply.

"Francois, here." Answered the french voice.

"Faylinn speaking. Leaving the Glass House. I have news."

"Alright, I'll meet you."

We met at a building further away from town-it used to be a coffee place; Common Grounds. I had never remembered going there when I was human, but of course. It, unlike most of the other buildings in town hadn't been taken over by another company, but had remained empty. It was about 10:30 a.m when we both arrived, nodding at each other and taking a seat at one of the many white cloth-covered table.

"The news?" He asked me, getting straight to the point.

"Amelie is still alive." I stated simply, watching as his face dropped. He nodded before urging me on. "The three people we saw yesterday...Amelie has filled them in on everything."

"_Everything_?" He asked, being positive. I nodded again. "And you sat and listened?"

"I did."

"So they know about the watch I wear and what it does? Or did she leave that out?" At this I shook my head.

"They have no clue what your watch does, let alone that it was a gift from Myrnin, nor that you even wear it." I shrugged. "Amelie must have thought better than to mention it yet. To mention that its part of the key to getting back their precious Claire Danvers. Not the only way, but the easiest way."

He chuckled. "Unless they know how to bring Bishop down or have formed an army of their own, it might as well be the only way. So...when are we going to tell Bishop that Amelie's still alive?"

"We're not." I answered, simply. This seemed to catch him off gaurd.

"But, the plan-"

"Isn't going to work. We need more time and more people."

**Disclaimer; I do NOT own any of these people. (Except Faylinn Lorien). The rest belong to Rachel Caine.**

**Suspicious yet? Dying to know what's going on? Let me know, please.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer; I own only Faylinn Lorien. ALL other characters belong to Rachel Caine.**

**This is several hours later-somewhere near dusk.**

(Faylinn Lorien POV)

"Ah, at last you've arrived, my child. You are aware you kept me waiting, yes?" Was Bishop's response to seeing me, as I entered the throne room. Ysandre and Francois stood infront of the steps, though I knew I could trust Francois-he was like a father to me.

"Yes, M'Lord. Please excuse me for my extreme selfishness. It will not happen again." I promised, kneeling and bowing my head in respect; though I had lost all respect for Bishop long ago. Couldn't be helped, though-it was all part of the act. "I am here for your services. What service may I do for you? A meal, perhaps?" Bishop shook his head.

"No, Fay. I'm in the mood for some entertainment. Would you fetch the Dancers?" I bowed my head again, working up out of my kneel.

"Certainly. Right away, your highness."_ Highness? Bishop? Right_. "It is always my honor." Bishop just nodded and made a shewing-movement. I could feel the goosebumps carresing my dead-cold skin on my way out.

"Oh, and Faylinn?" He called after me. I turned toward him. "While you're at it, tell Alloysius to bring in the prisoners Ysandre found today." I nodded and continued out.

"Luscien, Cal-start the music." I ordered to the two, standing at the door with the Dancers at-the-ready behind me. They began to pound on the drums and melt into a sweet melodic stream of sound that melted like butter, especially as the flute and guitar started in. I stepped to the side as the Dancers leaped into the air and flung their flying limbs, graceful like nothing else. They moved fluidly, moving their hips to the beat and swinging their heads around. They wore torn and tattered skirts, thin as paper-which barely touched their knees, sleeveless braw-like shirts that exposed their back, chest and midrift, and nothing else. This, I was sure, was for Bishop's benefit. What sick, powerful and perverted old man wouldn't want to enjoy the luxury of beautiful women bending and flexibly-moving for his own pleasure?

"These women remind me of fairies, somewhat. As do you, Fay. I really rather think you'd be quite good at this. Especially since your name is Faylinn-literally meaning 'Fairy'." Bishop commented from the throne. I tried not to shudder, with no success. No one else seemed to notice, though. As the women were still dancing, I continued to watch the extent of their abilities, finding myself extremely envious. One particular Dancer stood out to me; 17 year old Alyssa Collins. She jumped, hopped, skipped and leaped gracefully. Something told me, by the extent of her abilities that she even fell gracefully-I wouldn't doubt it. I only noticed that someone else had entered the room when, as lost in thought, 'Lyssa stopped dancing.

At the door stood Alloysius with four prisoners. I knew all but one. Michael Glass-whom, now that I looked, was a spitting image of Samuel, Goth Girl-being carried as she was pregnant-by Glass and Collins-whom all glared at Bishop with an intensity that could've matched mine...this scared me; not that this was to be shown. The entire room rang in silence, only to be interrupted by one voice.

"Shane!" Cried Alyssa in joy, starting to dash for her brother. The resemblance was striking, as my gaze shifted from one to the other. When he broke his gaze from Bishop and spotted her, realization hit home hard. He broke in a run toward her, as well.

"Lyssa..." words seemed to be beyond him. Just this once, I permitted myself the smallest of smiles at the happiness that consumed me, just watching the scene play out.

"Claire-" Alyssa started to say to Shane, breaking off his gaze and looking to me. I froze like nothing else, my smile falterring, slightly shaking my head at her and stepping back. But I wasn't fast enough, as Shane followed her stare to look at me. I pretended his glance meant nothing, keeping my face as emotionless as I could. On the inside, though, my dead heart outsped a racecar, as my stomach dropped. Just knowing who he was had my mind reeling and skin cells doing backflips. A look of confusion crossed his eyes, then seemed to gain a light, an understanding. I couldn't see farther into his eyes, though, as he turned his head toward 'Lyssa-whom he now stood embracing tightly, being just as tightly held. I began to wonder what it felt like to be in his arms, as he was gorgeous; there was no denying it-not even now, seeing him in the full light of the room.


	6. Chapter 6

**Diclaimer; Own Faylinn Lorien, and no one else. All other places and characters belong to Rachel Caine. **

**This chapter continues where the last left off.**

"Don't move." Francois whispered, suddenly by my side. "Ysandre braught them here for a reason." I nodded just slightly, still watching the Collins. To what he was reffering, I knew immediately and watched Ysandre from my periphial vision. She stood infront of the steps that led up to Bishop, eyeing me carefully, not breaking her gaze for even a second.

"Bishop, I ask your permission to speak?" I turned my full attention on him, hoping to get my way. I could full as the room's attention shifted from myself to him, back and forth. Bishop studied me for a moment, before he nodded and smiled.

"Permission granted, my child." I could feel the slightest of surprises from the four prisoners that had just entered the room. They were surprised to see Bishop had a soft side, I could tell. I curtsied and bowed my head in gratefulness.

"Ysandre?" I asked, looking to her. She seemed a little surprised I addressed her; we didn't like each other-of that, it was no secret. "Tell me, what exactly did you catch_ these four _doing," I broke off to gesture and glance at them. They were taking Amelie's advice seriously, as they were in cautious stances, looking ready to dash at a moment's notice. "-as to have really felt a need to bring them in?" I saw a flicker of movement coming from my right. It was Alyssa's brother-Shane-he was starting to back away, towards the door and towards his other friends. 'Lyssa grabbed his hand and urged him not to with her eyes, shaking her head. _That's a good girl; make them stay_, I urged with my will.

"Why, they were snooping around town, of course." Answered my enemy. Ysandre shrugged as if this explained everything. Whispered conversations began to take place around the room.

"How?" I asked. The whispers subsided, replacing it with silence.

"Excuse me?" She asked in shock, motionless.

"How?" I asked, again. She began to shrug and stutter excuses, her voice getting smaller. I sighed and dropped my shaking head. From here, I looked to the four prisoners, again, as well as 'Lyssa. She, unlike the others, was smiling at me, her eyes kind-she knew she could trust me. The others, though (even the prisoner I didn't know) stood glaring at me with a vicious distaste in their eyes; even as I was risking my life to save their's-and it was obvious that's what I was doing. I felt an anger well up inside of me. After I got through with this, per-se that I would, I'd have to go find and have a little 'talk' with Amelie. It was her fault I was hated, afterall. I looked to Bishop whom was having an intense staring contest with a still-stuttering Ysandre. "Bishop, if it is alright, I was wondering if we can keep our 'prisoners' on probation, but let them go, nonetheless. It seems we did not actually catch them doing anything wrong or rebellious against us, just enjoying a day of finally coming home." Bishop broke his silent conversation with his Second in Command, not breaking his harsh stare as his eyes met mine. I nearly gulped; his patience was used up for today. Had I been anyone else and asked for what I just had, I'd already be dead. Bishop nodded sharply and dismissed everyone with a fast flicker of his hand. I nearly ran to the door, Francois still at my side.

When we entered the hallway and the double-doors were slammed shut, most everyone continued to run down the hall, taking their places. Francois and I stopped, leaning against the wall right outside the doors.

"You..." Francois started to say, moving towards me. "IDIOT!" He threw his sword toward the ground with such ferocity, I jumped back a step or two. "Bishop was _this_ close to killing you-even you; his favorite." He measured about an inch between his pointer finger and thumb. "Why would you ask such a fatal request of Bishop?"

"Yes, why?" A voice spoke before I could answer. I looked up to see Michael Glass, angry and demanding, holding a sword, himself-looking like the most beautiful of Arch Angels. Behind him, walking up, was Shane Collins, followed by Alyssa and Goth. I just stood there, unanswering, emotionless. "You know," Michael chuckled and glanced down at his sword, bring it up and observing it. "-as strange at it may be, you remind me of a younger, darker version of Amelie." He said, looking up. I let the blank look drop from my face as I responded to his unexpected comment.

"You think so?" I asked, hopeful. A hardness appeared in his eyes, and he opened his mouth in anger.

"Don't get sarcastic with me-" he started to say.

"I'm not." I answered honestly. "Do I really...?" He only continued to stare at me with that hardness. I let the conversation go and resumed my emotionless face, freezing completely. To my unshown surprise, it was Shane whom got frustrated now.

"What? So that's it? We don't tell you what you want to hear, so you freeze up again, 'cause '_oh well, we lost our chance_'?" He nearly yelled, throwing his arms up in disbelief. I was scared of his reaction, but I hid it, stepping forward in my best Amelie impersonation.

"Shane Collins. Though I know you are not aware, I knew you back when I was human. Even if you were to suddenly to remember me, by some miracle, I assure you that I am not how I was back then. You do not know me; stop assuming. You want answers-that's obvious. Ask your questions, I'll answer what I can." The Goth Girl was the one to step forward, now, suspicion clear on her face.

"Why were we told that you would harm us first chance you got, yet we've seen you twice now and both times you've left us alone-helped us, even?" All their gazes now rested on mine. I shrugged.

"You were misinformed." I stated, simply. Goth snorted.

"Yeah! Okay! Like I'm really going to believe that bull." She grabbed something on her thigh, hidden by her huge, tattered skirt; a stake. I jumped backward just as Francois threw himself infront of me. The stake flew toward his chest, where his heart used to lay. I grabbed at him, dragging him back toward me and falling in the process, bringing him with me. Michael stopped her arm and the stake before they connected with him. He still lay in a shocked, cold-sweat, propped up on my legs.

"Sam, Samuel Glass-answer me. Are you alright?" I rushed through the words in a panic, not thinking about them at all. As I realized what I had said, I slowly looked up into Michael's shocked eyes. He was staring at 'Francois', still in my arms.

"Impossible." Michael whispered.

"Possible." I said back. His eyes, as well as the other's-all but 'Lyssa's-became curious, but wary.

"How?" Asked Shane this time. I stared at him with a harsh edge to my gaze.

"Ask Claire Danvers." His eyes got large, and he started to back up, shaking his head.

"I-"

"There they are! Get them out; Bishop's orders." Gaurds started to rush toward Michael, Goth and Shane. With one last look at me and the unconcious vampire in my arms, they ran past us and down the hall. Most of the gaurds ran after them, making sure they left, but some stayed behind to help us.

"Miss Lorien? Are you and Francois alright?" One of them asked. I nodded.

"We're fine. Just been a long day."


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer; I own Faylinn Lorien. All other characters and places belong to Rachel Caine**.

Michael, Eve and I were now cooped up in the Glass House, silent. Thinking. Alright, so Sam was alive and in Francois' body-Amelie hadn't mentioned this. And Fay-I sighed internally. Were we really on a first name basis?-and Miss Lorien had hinted that Claire was still alive. Then again, Amelie had clearly said she was dead. But Miss Lorien told us we were being falsely informed. I'd have immediately believed Amelie-thought she was telling the truth and Lorien was the liar, but Lorien had spoken with perfect honesty in her voice. Yet, Amelie had had that same tone of honesty as well. How could two people that were contradicting each other both be right? Unless...

...it was all about point of view?

I sighed to myself, again. Contradict each other; they did. Both cold and emotionless in manner, though one dark and the other light, one young, one old. One was dead and the other was_...dead_. This thought began to nag at me. Perhaps the death of Claire Amelie had been reffering to was of Claire becoming a vampire, I thought with hope. But...Amelie had told us of the tragic things Bishop had put Claire through. After that, she couldn't have survived to have gone on. Yet, Lorien had hinted...

How to know who was lying?

I was desperate for the answer.

Eve and I sat on the couch, watching t.v; trying to relax after thinking for hours on end. Michael walked into the room, pale as...well-himself, eyes large, mouth slightly agape. He was looking past us, towards where the portal was. Eve and I immediately turned our full attention in that direction.

I will never forget what I saw.

There, in the deepest corner of the room, getting up from the ground with a book in her hands, was Claire Danvers. Same short, golden hair, bright blue eyes and pale skin as six years ago. She paid us no mind, just walked forward, focused on the content she was reading. She continued moving, passing us and stopping at the dining room table, picking up something black, setting the book down and grabbing a screw driver with her now-empty hand. She looked at the book as she drove the tool into the object, seeming to follow instructions.

"Claire?" I called, softly. She did not answer, only continued to work. "Claire?" I called louder this time. My voice still did not disrupt her, her concentration never broke. At last, there was a gasp from Michael.

"Wait a minute..." He mumbled to himself. He started to move toward her, carefully. She did not notice this either. When he stopped infront of her, he hesitated before slowly extending his hand toward her. He placed it on her arm and gasped. I couldn't tell why from where Eve and I sat. Then, suddenly, he pushed his hand forward...and it _went right through her. _She...wasn't real. How was this possible? Was she only partially dead, the way Michael had been? No, we'd been able to communicate with him, even in his ghost form. Besides, in his ghost form, he'd become invisible-she was most obviously not.

"_How?_" Eve asked, astounded. I shrugged.

"That seems to be the main question here in Morganville."

"That it does," Michael muttered observing his hand and looking at the still unnoticeabely-ghostly Claire.

We were all braught out of our refferies by the quick opening and slamming of a window in the direction of the portal. To my immense disgust, Miss Lorien was in a crouch, carefully peeking over the edge of the windowsill out at something in the night air. I huffed. She immediately broke her gaze from outside, to stare at me.

"Lorien." I snarled, angry. Whe was she to trespass on our house? Her eyes narrowed.

"Collins." She snapped, glancing once more out the window before she flitted to the rest of us. Michael still stared at 'Claire'. As Lorien and I had a silent glaring contest, I noticed that I had been wrong yesterday; her eyes weren't black, they were a deep red-the color of blood. Lorien looked up and noticed the two blondes. An uneasy breath left her lips. Michael looked to her in a flash, his shocked state being replaced by an angry one.

"What do you think you're doing here?" He demanded.

"Honestly, we had enough of you today." Eve chimed in, clearly annoyed. Lorien looked to Michael in surprise.

"Does it mean nothing to you that your un-deceased grandfather trust me? You will not put faith in me as well?" Was her answer. This caught Michael off gaurd, as he searched for an answer. She wasn't waiting for an answer, though, as she looked at Claire, again. "Claire?" She called. Before I could tell her not waste her breathe, Claire turned her head and looked right at Lorien.

"Yes?" Her voice chimed with a smile.

"What are you doing?" Lorien asked.

"I'm trying to finish this watch for Sam," she said matter-of-factly.

"So he can tell time?" Lorien questioned. Claire laughed, her beautiful voice ringing through the house. She shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"_You_ know that's not why." She stated. Claire turned and continued to work.

"_This_," she gestured to Claire. "-is what we call a Memory." Lorien shrugged and sat in an armchair. "It's obviously showing you the past-the House, that is-of Danvers. Not all are able to communicate with them. But, as I'm sure you were informed, Bishop made me special." I had been nodding, taking it all in, but this caught my attention.

"So you admit that Amelie was telling the truth?" I demanded. She only looked at me.

"So you admit that Amelie is still alive?" She asked. I huffed and looked away, dissapointed in myself. Eve spoke up now.

"No. You already knew that." Eve accused with a questioning smile, some doubt in her eyes. Lorien smiled back.

"I did."

"Then why didn't you tell Bishop?" Eve asked, truly curious. Lorien hung her shaking head.

"You really think I'd be friends with Sam if I were working for_ Bishop_?" A small smile graced her lips. Michael kneeled in front of Lorien.

"So, you_ do _work for Amelie?" He asked. Lorien nodded. "But it doesn't make any sense. She told us you were dangerous, could walk in the sun and to stay away from you." He pointed out, confused. Lorien seemed to grow uncomfortable.

"The first two are true. And as for the third," she drew out. "-she didn't want you giving away her spy to Bishop; people slip." She looked down. "There's no doubt he'd kill me if he found out I was working for Amelie, whether he thought she was dead or not."


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer; I own Faylinn Lorien and Angel. Other other places and people belong to Rachel Caine.**

**I haven't updated because my mom finally got a day off of work yesterday, for the first time in months-my brother and I spent the day with her. Anyway, HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!**

**(A WEEK AFTER LAST CHAPTER)**

I layed in bed, trying to consume myself in sleep, and yet, unable to do so. After tossing and turning, and being graced with the sound of Michael's guitar, I finally got and up and lifted some old weights I found in the bottom of my closet. I'd exhaust my body to the point of rest. 45...48...50...I kept counting the times I lifted them. I surprised myself by looking at the clock and noticing almost three hours had passed.

At last, I put the weights down, and headed into the hall, grabbing the bathroom. The hot water pounded my back, relieving tension. I was so out of it, nearly asleep as it was, just drifting. The pounding on my muscles started to soften, almost as if I was getting a massage. I heard myself moan in satisfaction as my body relaxed and stayed relaxed.

"That's it..." Came a calm, female voice. Even as I was mostly asleep, my mind instantly snapped into a sharp focus. I immediately turned around, almost causing both of us to fall on the slippery porcelain. As I looked up, I saw Claire; short blonde hair, soft blue eyes, and sweet blush gracing her cheeks. She placed her hands on my chest, stood on her toes and began kissing me. It was so soft, so real and her body was just as naked as mine.

That's how I knew this was a dream. I'd had many of these dreams about Claire.

And it was since she was dead and I'd never see her again that I decided to have fun with this dream. I wrapped my arms around her and began kissing back.

I woke up in my bed. I was still tired, but didn't care to go back to sleep. I was hungry and felt my stomach grumble in protest as a sweet aroma suddenly presented itself to my nose. I hurriedly went to the bathroom and it was as I walked out of the bathroom and towards the stairs that I was reminded of the sweet dream I had had last night. To be honest, I knew where the idea of the dream had come from; that had been one of my many fantasies about Claire and I. I had never had the pleasure of making love to Claire for real, but I would never doubt, to anyone, that I had wanted to. Sure, I had wanted to the first moment I saw her-which I'd always felt guilty for. It had made me feel like a pedophile at the time-but as time continued and I came to love her, my need to please her grew.

I progressed into the livingroom after I had transcended the stairs, to be shocked at what I found. Sam-actual Sam, not 'Francois' Sam-sat in a chair, playing Michael's guitar, off to the side. All the furniture had been moved to the sides of the room, facing the middle of the room. In the middle, dancing to Sam's playing, was Alyssa and Lorien. In a further corner of the room, stood Frank and Miranda, conversing. As I stood there in shock, they all looked up, noticing me, gave some form of greeting and continued on.

"Breakfast's ready!" Yelled Eve from the kitchen. Everyone stopped what they were doing as Eve and Michael came in, carrying dishes with tasty-looking foods; in big proportions, as we had many guests. Frank grabbed a few dishes, helping the much-pregnant Eve. After a moment, I sat down with everyone else, grabbing one of the spare chairs that had been in the kitchen. Alyssa plotted her chair right next to me.

"Hey there, big brother." She beamed. Even in the confusion of everything, I silently thanked Claire from wherever she was, for giving me my sister back. As I did so, I beamed back and got her a plate, filling it with food for her, before getting my own. No amount of words could _ever_ describe the happiness that overcame me with my sister sitting here next to me, at the same age she would have been right now. I could feel someone's gaze on me, and found the owner sitting directly across from me.

"Can I help you with something Lorien?" Her blank expression dropped as she narrowed her eyes in a death stare.

"Not at all, _Collins_. And the name's Faylinn." She growled. I shook my head slightly.

"Yeah. What's up with that? Your parents really named you that?" I asked. Her eyes stayed narrowed. "Fine, then. I guess I'll get the answer from your parents." I shrugged. She huffed, and for the slightest moment, I thought I saw her eyes get watery.

"Impossible." She responded. "My parents are dead." She broke her gaze from me to take hold of the hashbrowns that were being passed around. I instantly froze, as did Sam, from the head of the table.

"Fay...I'm sorry, Faylinn." I sympathised. "Honestly, I didn't know." She shrugged.

"Now you do. There are many reasons I hate Bishop, but killing my parents probably ties with my other biggest reason." She said, without looking at me, putting scrambled eggs on her plate, now.

"If...If it's not too much-could I-would you..." I stuttered, not sure how to proceed. I may not have liked the girl very much, she may have gotten on my nerves, but despite that, I didn't want to hurt her again.

"You want to know my other reason." She stated, completely sure. I nodded, without speaking. The room wasn't dead silent, everyone, even 'Lyssa, was engaged in loud conversations with everyone else. "Because he killed Claire Danvers." She growled. This time, though, the growl wasn't directed at me, but at Bishop himself. Everyone stopped and their heads snapped up to look at her, then to me, seeing how I'd react, I was sure. I nodded.

"Then we have something in common." Alyssa gripped my arm. I looked at her, to find her eyes uncertain, asking if I was alright. I nodded, again. "So. I've made a decision, Lorien. I want to be a part of bringing Bishop down. That's what Claire fought for and she died trying," I said, still unsure who had been telling the truth about her; Fay or Amelie. "I want to pick up the fight where she left off." Everyone was still silent, watching.

"Ha!" She let out obnoxiously. "Impossible. That's _my_ job." She was a step ahead, but I immediately jumped to the same step as her.

"Then let me help you."


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer; I own Faylinn Lorien and Angel. every other person and place belongs to Rachel Caine.**

**Dad took away computer for a few days. then limited me to 1 hour...*sigh*. The reason this story has the name it does is in this chapter. I think you'll be pleased to find out why. Go Shane!**

**Still Shane POV.**

"Yeah, right!" She laughed out loud, breaking her Amelie impersonation. "That's not going to happen." She finalized. I continued to stare with demanding eyes. "Don't hold your breath waiting for a 'yes'-you'll suffocate." She shrugged and continued to eat.

"Let me ask you something. Say that you were in love with someone. Impossible as it might sound, try to picture it anyway. Now, you turned your back for one moment and when you turn back, they've been murdered. No warning, no 'goodbye', just gone. What would you do? Would you want revenge?" I asked, my voice filled with emotion, hoping it would sway her. She shook her head.

"That's different. I've lost many I've loved in this fight, including myself. And I continue to fight, but it's gotten me nowhere."

"Yet." I said, hopefully.

"Yet." She nodded. "But trust me. It would kill Claire if you unneccesarily risked _your_ life, for hers." I glared at Lorien.

"You think I don't know that. Let me explain something else to you." I leaned over my finished plate towards her, trying to push my veiw on her understanding. "Do you think Claire would have been murdered by Bishop, had _I_ not left her all alone? Do you honestly think she was well taken care of and protected with Eve, Mickal and I gone? No. She lost hope, she became lonely and Bishop came along, offering the exact opposite for her. She took it. Because_ I left her all alone_." I urged her to understand.

"And that's the bottom line, isn't it?" She asked of me, willing me to understand something as well; probably that this was all my fault. And I wouldn't deny it. This was my fault. All of it. Claire had had to face death because I'd rather have left her here then stayed myself. Sure, I thought the people here were trustworthy enough to keep her alive, but that didn't matter. It was my poor lack of judgement. Lorien sighed and rolled her eyes at me.

"Why can't you let her go?" She asked in frustration.

"Because I don't _want_-to let go." I answered back fiercely.

She huffed and fell back in her chair, crossing her arms. After a moment, I had to conceal a laugh. She almost looked_...jealous_. Was she?

"What's the matter, little Fay? Jealous?" I asked. She stared me head on.

"Yes." ...Did she really just say that? I leaned back in my chair in shock. That wasn't what I was expecting. She was supposed to say 'no', then I'd laugh at her blushing cheeks and say 'sure you're not' and she'd get flustered trying to claim otherwise. "Many love me; Bishop (though he shouldn't), Amelie, Alyssa," she gestured to my sister who, as most everyone, was crowded on the couch over Eve's exposed stomach, cooing. "-Jason, even Frank. But no one's _in love _with me." I shrugged.

"Maybe that's cause you're so emotionless and blank-like Amelie." I suggested.

"Amelie has Sam and used to have Oliver. Both deeply in love with her." She pointed out. I shook my head and rolled my eyes.

"Trust me, Fay. He's out there."

"Who?"

"Your Prince Charming. He's ready and waiting to meet his Princess and sweep her off her feet. In the words of Michael Buble, 'he just hasn't met you yet'. Look at me, I've found Claire."

"That's what scares me." Lorien said, stright-faced, looking right at me. I began to grow uncomfortable on what she seemed to be implying.

"I know you're not reffering to being jealous of Claire for having me..." my voice wandered. She continued to stare.

"I know you're wrong." She stated simply. I knew my face was clearly showing my shock and discomfort, but I couldn't seem to bring myself out of my referee to even try to hide it. I began to say something when I was interrupted.

"Faylinn." Came that familiar comanding voice. Amelie stood in the entryway, Sam walking towards her. He wrapped his arms around her and she was so obviously lost in his eyes that she forgot everyone. They stared at eachother, a smile breaking on both of their faces. "Samuel," she sighed. He hesitated for a moment before leaning over and kissing her on the mouth. She let him, no resistance at all. Frank cleared his throat, causing them to unattach and everyone gave him a silent glare, though 'Lyssa took it further and elbowed him in the ribs. "Status report?" She asked, focused on Lorien again. Lorien stood up.

"Single, ma'am." She stated, straight-faced. After a frozen moment, both Amelie and Fay broke into soft laughs. It was rather scary though, like watching the same person, each on the other side of the room.

"Is Bishop aware of anything being out of place?" Amelie asked, being led to sit down by Sam.

"No, ma'am. He knows things will change, especially since Ysandre and I are at eachother's throats nonstop, but aware of nothing else." Amelie nodded, then sighed.

"Honestly, Miss Lorien, must you insist on calling me 'ma'am'?"

"Faylinn." Was all she answered.

"Amelie." Amelie pointed to herself. "You of all people should have a right to call me that. You have done many things for me-great tasks-and without complaint, without mistake. I am very thankful of you." She nodded to Fay, then looked around the room and at it's occupants. "Though," she began. "-I'd really hoped you'd have distanced yourself from Shane, Eve and Michael." She gave a slight frown, but nothing more. My God! Faylinn Lorien was an extremely important person; the favorite of both the good side, as well as the bad. She was a busy little worker. I began to picture her walking around in some office, filing paperwork, dressed in a very fiting navy blue suit, hair done in a high bun. It was as I pictured this and saw her keep dropping things that her skirt got shorter and shorter and...I turned slightly in my seat at the bulge that developed (regrettably) in my pants. I mean, really? Faylinn Lorien, of all people? I was a sick man.

I turned again to look at an oblivious Lorien, watching her. Well, she was pretty, I'll admit. Long black hair that reached her waist, deep red eyes, a small nose, very short, extremely slim. Without the attitude and already having found the love of my life, I might've even dated her. Strange, to be thinking this now.

_I would not_, I promised myself,_ fall for fiesty Faylinn_.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer; I own Faylinn Lorien and Angel (she's gonna show up later-i promised a friend). Every place and person beside these two belong to Rachel Caine. ****oh! BrIgHtEyEdGiRl-lIvEtIlThEeNd: Francois. and your questions get answered in this chapter(!)**

**I've gotta admit, I'm really liking that you guys are enjoying this story and that you're pretty confused. sorry, but true.**

**(Faylinn POV)**

My heart was pounding. My heart was pounding ,and it couldn't be helped. It ached in longing everytime I looked at Shane. He was handsome, could be kind-if he wanted to be-and caring, which I had learned watching him and Alyssa as they got to know eachother again. At this moment, they were snuggled up with the goth girl (whom I had found was named Eve) and Michael, watching a funny movie together. I wanted to be with him, but because of Bishop, I could not. Not only was there the risk that Bishop would hurt or kill Shane if I showed the slightest weakness or resistance, but that he might see through our yet, it was because of Bishop that I was playing this charade, wearing the strange bracelet that, even now, graced my wrist. Bishop was the only reason Shane and I couldn't be together. Then again, I still wondered what Shane would think if he knew the truth.

It was clear, the moment I saw Shane, that even after six years, though my brain didn't remember him, my heart did. I was still in love with him. Which only made it harder for me that Shane couldn't let go of Claire Danvers. Not because I was jealous of a 'dead girl', but because it added more pain and awareness to why we couldn't be together; Bishop. I smiled to myself. Shane obviously didn't see through my acting, none of them did. I was Claire Danvers, but when Shane looked at me, all he saw was the girl I was pretending to be; Faylinn Lorien. She wasn't even a real person, just a name Amelie thought up at a moment's notice and dubbed me with.

I missed my hair and eyes. The golden tresses and blue orbs, but because I was Amelie's spy and couldn't seem off at all, I had to wear this bracelet. For the same reason Sam wore his special watch. They were devices that Myrnin and I had worked on numerous times, tested again and again, then made changes when we found a glitch. They had to be perfect, they were supposed to fool Bishop, afterall. What the watch and bracelet did, was alter our outside appearance, making us appear as someone else entirely. We had killed Francois several years back, (Oliver, in fact), therefore we needed someone to pose as Francois, being our spy and helping me with Bishop; Sam was perfect for the job.

Then, we needed someone else to make it high up in Bishop's ranking system. I had done this, I was his favorite. He even loved me more than he loved his 'precious Ysandre', and I'd only been with him for five years-well, as Faylinn, that is. I had been one of his favorite about a year beforehand, though, as I was told. Not that I actually remembered. Which is what scared me. Bishop had raped and butchered me back then, as one of his favorites, which only made me fear that the incident could reoccur. Then again, I could defend myself better; I was a vampire now, afterall.

After I had been shoved in that sack and left by the side of the highway, Jason Rosser had found me, and for the first time, did the right thing. He nodified Amelie and braught me to her and though it had taken alot out of her, she turned me, bringing me back to life. However, as a side effect, I had gained Amnesia, not remembering any portion of my life at all. Though, by the time Myrnin and I had started working together again, especially on the watch and bracelet (which we'd apparently been working on before I had passed), some of my knowledge had resurfaced, making my job as his assistant easier.

Sitting here at the dining room table, accompanied by Frank, Amelie and Sam-all in conversation together, paying my wandering attention no mind-I looked upon my Shane and sweet Alyssa. I remembered how, about a week and a half ago, back in Bishop's throne room, she started to slip and almost told Shane that I was Claire. This was exactly the reason Amelie had wanted Shane, Eve and Michael to keep their distance from me; she didn't want them finding out whom I really was and slipping up in front of Bishop. Truly, I didn't blame her. We would all die if Bishop found out who I really was, ending my chances completely of ever being with Shane again.

A part of me doubted he'd want to be with me, especially now. I was an overly serious, hardworking biotch, whom didn't look like myself-because of the stupid bracelet-as well as a vampire. I wasn't naive, I knew I changed since I had been human, and plenty of it. I drank blood! And walked in the sunlight! (which helped-but that wasn't the point). I was more of a freak now, more than ever. Ysandre was right. She had plenty reason not to like me, as I had no reason to like her. Sometimes, it all seemed pointless-like we'd never win against Bishop, as we'd already been fighting for six years now. Ha! And Shane! he wanted to help us, he expected me to let him help, but I couldn't let that happen. Whether Bishop knew I was alive or not, he'd kill Shane the moment he got the chance. And if Shane tried to help us, Bishop would get plenty of those chances. It was the most selfish I had been in the longest of time, but I could not stop myself from being that way. Banning Shane from revenge so I could hold him after I got mine.


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer; I own Faylinn Lorien and Angel (she'll show up eventaully) and everyone else and all other places belong to Rachel Caine.**

**If anyone would like, I'm trying to get an account on ****-id love it if you guys would read some of my work once I got it up there.**

**(Faylinn/Claire POV)**

"Well, I think I'll be heading down to Bishop now-Amelie, Sam, Frank; it's been a pleasure." I nodded to them, standing up from the table. There was a gasp from the couch, which turned out to be a flustered and struggling-to-get-free Alyssa. She flew at me, nearly knocking us both over as she made contact. I hugged her back and squeezed one last time before I let go.

"Why are you two hugging, 'Lyssa's coming with us." Sam said as he, too, stood up and gave Amelie a light peck on the lips. He then grabbed his watch and pressed the button on the top, causing Francois' form to appear in his place. "Are we ready?" Came that French accent. I couldn't contain the giggle that escaped me, receiving me strange looks from Eve, Michael and Shane.

"Yes." I said awkwardly to him, turning away from the three and led the way towards the door; we weren't allowed to use the portals-it could tip Bishop off about Amelie.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Came my love's voice. I cringed, and slowly turned back towards him. He was walking toward 'lyss and I. "Alyssa, be careful. That's an order. I_ will not _allow you to die...again. And as for you-" he turned on me. "-I was serious when I said I was going to help bring Bishop down."

"As was I when I told you 'no'." I snapped back, getting ready to leave, again. His arm shot out infront of me, stopping me in my tracks. For a moment, with the look in his eyes, I actually thought he was going to hold me.

"We're not done talking about this."

"I say we are...What would you say if I told you that Claire didn't want you out there, fighting Bishop?" I asked, expecting him to back down and let me pass.

"I'd say 'too bad' and get on with my life. I want to avenge the woman I love, is that such a crime?" He burst out at me, causing me to jump. Alyssa nudged me aside, only to get up in Shane's face.

"Hey! Asshole! She said you stay out of it. That means back the hell down and do it _now_!" She screamed at him, catching him by surprise. Yet, he was up-to-date almost immediately.

"Yeh? And if I don't? Are _you_ gonna do somethin' about it?" This, of course, was the point where Frank jumped up and headed towards his fighting kids.

"Yeah. Yeah, I am. I owe everything to this woman here, so I will not stand around as you scream at her. She didn't do anything to you." He shook his head with a laugh.

"Ha! Lorien...a _woman? _Right! She's a little girl!" He continued to laugh. Alyssa held her tongue, but I knew what was going through her mind-the same thing that was going through mine; _You just called me a woman, though. The woman you loved..._Loved? Was it really pass-tense? No, surely he still loved me. Maybe.

"Hey! Collins! My name is Faylinn and you better not forget it!" I nearly yelled, my anger getting the better of me. I could feel everyone's eyes on me, especially since half of them knew who I really was. "You're not going to help-you're going to stay the hell out of my plans, understood? We've lost many to Bishop; mostly vampires. We're not gonna lose a human to him as well. You want something to do? Visit Jason Rosser. He's down at the Police Station and I bet he doesn't even know you three are back." I ordered fiercely, as my anger and desperation to keep the man I loved safe increased. Michael now stepped into the conversation.

"Yeah. We know. Where the hell else would he be? Look, we're not interested in talking to some dangerous kid through bars." I gasped and shook my head, taking slow steps towards the three.

"Is...is that what you all really think?" I stuttered in surprise and understanding. Eve nodded.

"Um, duh!" I shook my head, again.

"He's at the Police Station, but he's not the one in jail-he's the one _putting_ people in jail; he's a cop. One of the best we have left." I explained. It was their turn to be surprised now. "Oh, and uh, if I were you-"

"Which you're not." Shane interrupted.

"-I'd cut him some slack. He_ is _the one whom found and tried to save Claire after Bishop...you know." I could tell that they were all even more surprised and rethinking their opinions of Jason.

With this, Alyssa, Sam and I all slipped out the door and headed to Sam's car. He ran quickly, covered by a black cloak, as 'Lyss and I leisurely walked, climbing in and settling ourselves.

"Alright. Next stop; Bishop's." He said in that French accent. It always made me giggle listening to the accent after I'd spent a while listening to his normal voice. I was still pretty worried that Shane would act out and try something, but more hopefull that he and the other two would finally visit Jason today. I knew it would make Jason happy to see them, especially since it was_ I _whom had sent them. Jason was probably one of the ones that had changed the most in these last six years. One of his biggest changes, I wasn't very comfortable with; he was in love with me...and not ashamed of it. He'd never claim otherwise. To anyone. I didn't feel the same way, but that didn't stop or alter his feelings. This was, in a way, a relief, as well as depressing. Here I was, already not in love with him, then shows up Shane Collins-me falling in love with him...well, having already loved him-thus, making it even more impossible for me to _ever _be with Jason. And he was okay with it. That's what hurt the most.

"Claire, are you alright?" Asked Sam, bringing me back to the present. We were almost at the town square now. Alyssa looked concerned for me, as well.

"Yes." I nodded. "Just got lost in thought." I admitted. 'Lyss nodded and put her hand over mine.

"Look, about Shane-" she started to say, but I stopped her.

"Don't worry about it. He's got reason to hate me. I'm lying to him afterall."

"Not that he knows. And that doesn't excuse the way he acts. It's okay, though. His outlook on you will change when he finds out you're Claire."

"If we ever bring Bishop down." I sighed, looking longingly out the window.

"We will." Came Sam's firm accent. "And you'll no longer have to wear that stupid bracelet-you'll get to entirely take it off, even." Alyssa looked confused now.

"You-you mean you haven't even taken it off?" She stuttered in surprise and disbelief. I shook my head, but it was Sam whom answered.

"Amelie won't let her. She feels it would be too much of a risk. Which, in a way, it would." He sympathesized lightly, not taking his eyes off the road.

"Truth be told," I told her. "-I haven't seen myself in months. I have no clue what I look like now. How blue my eyes are, how long my blonde hair has become-if I have any zits." I said casually, breaking the awkward atmosphere. Sam and Alyssa began to laugh and I joined in.

We now pulled up to the gate and the gaurds checked the three of us inside the car, then waved us through, hurrying to keep safe from the sun's rays. We curved up smoothly to the entrance of the Town Hall and flitted through the double-doors, making our way to Bishop. We knew very well that if we didn't get there quick enough, he'd do something drastic. Bishop was all about power. He used every opportunity to show that he had complete power over every one of us-which, he didn't, but none of us would ever tell him that. He gave out the death warrants, afterall.

We entered the throne room, to be audience to a very strange scene. Bishop was sitting at the throne with a sexified Ysandre purring lightly as he petted her exposed thigh. It had been _years_ since he'd shown her any affection. The affection had been given to me-true, not like this...except for_ that _time...

They both looked up as they noticed our entrance. Bishop nodded to us once, then _continued to pet Ysandre_. A dark laugh came from the corner of the room. The three of our heads snapped over to that corner. There she was. I was beginning to wonder where she'd wandered off to. Monica Morrel.

"Looks like 'lil Fay is no longer Bishop's favorite." She said with a sick edge. Ah, yes. Monica. I'd been informed of her after I had woken up with my Amnesia. We'd been sworn enemies from Day 2, after I had insulted her knowledge during my first 6 weeks here when I'd first entered Texas Prairie.

"Yes, well, neither are you, so I'm not worried." I said loud and clear.

"Mmmm. I don't know. He is favoring Ysandre-and you know how much she hates you." She hinted.

"True, but I'll take my chances; as long as he's not favoring _me_ like that." I gestured to the way he was so obviously wanting to ravish his sex kitten. And she, teasing him, wanted it too, as long as it made him favor her over me. She could have him. I, in no way, wanted that part of him. I wanted the attention and liking of Bishop. Yet, having come to being _had_ by Bishop, secretly made me angry with him-furious-as well as scared; scared he'd do it again. Whether he wanted to get rid of me or just wanted me.

The only thing that could end that fear was Bishop's ultimate death and Shane's comforting arms.


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer; I own Faylinn Lorien (the other side of Claire-though I don't own Claire) and Angel (believe me, she'll show up one of these days). I also own Brianna Fairport, as that's my name. No, not the last name, but the first. Everyone else and all other places belong to Rachel Caine.**

**For Chapter 13, I'm not going to write and upload it until I have 52 Reviews. That's 4 more Reviews guys. That's all I'm asking. Plus, this will tell me if you guys are reading the notes I leave on these chapters. I'm asking for these reviews because I've noticed they've really slowed down since I gave you most of the answers to all the mysteries.**

**(Jason Rosser POV)**

I sat at my desk, looking over files of three humans that had first been reported as missing, then found in random places over town, dead. Different ways and with different causes. It may have been one person whom had committed all of these murders-doing it differently as to cover their tracks and not be suspected. Then again, it was well known that Bishop, after getting bored, would send out Death Warrants to friends of family of the ones he wanted dead.

They were two females and a male. One female, Kayla Thorese, was hacked apart by a regular steak knife-as the knife had been beside her-and was found by a dumpster at Texas Prairie. The other female, Brianna Fairport, had been savagely ripped apart by some sort of animal-dogs, my theorie-and left by the alley next to Gramma Day's house. And the male, Connor Eichler, had been shot in the head, heart and leg.

And what was sicker was that it _could_ have easily been their family or friends. People in this town were so afraid of Bishop and his wrath that they'd kill their children, their brother-they're spouse-just to live on. Just to make sure Bishop didn't come after_ them_. Not all of Morganville's people were like this, but enough to make my job more complicated and tiresome.

At last, I dropped the falls on my desk, leaned back in my chair and stared at them. This town and its inhabitants were unbelievable. What would happen, say Amelie came and rose to power again, and these people-these murderers-woke up to find the people they loved dead. And by their own doing, no less. It would torture them until they went crazy and died of stress themselves. And then I'd have more paperwork to fill out. Damn Bishop, I cursed him, Damn! My thoughts were interrupted by someone smacking me in the back of the head. I turned and stood from my chair, gun already in hand, so fast that shock crossed the man's face. I knew this guy. Leo Packard, consistant customer of the bar, always drunk and always being brought into the station for bar fights and such. He spit at me and I flung him around and against the ground, cuffing his wrists. Tightly.

"Stay down!' I screamed at him, as he tried to get up. "Stay down!" I screamed, again as he struggled. "Dave, give me some help here." I commanded an officer close by. Dave grabbed one of Leo's arms, me grabbing the other, as we hoisted him up roughly and dragged him forward. "Move it, Leo!" I commanded sharply.

"Go to hell, Rosser!" He screamed. He was a scraggly, bear belly type man and stunk insanely. Even sicker, I was quite used to it, always having to lock him up.

"Well, well...up to our old antics, are we Leo?" I asked, rhetorically as it was pretty obvious.

"Just wait, Rosser. Bishop-he'll get'tcha! And I'll be there-I'll laugh as he twists your body apart, as he butchers you up-just like her, just like _Miss Danvers_," He sneered her name in disgust. I slammed him against a nearby pillar and held him there, my anger taking me over. He didn't know my feelings for Claire/Fay, but he didn't have to. It made me angry anyway.

...We didn't like eachother.

"Why, you pompous little-" I began.

"Jason?" I stopped where I stood, sure the voice was familiar, but not quite convinced my ear's were right. I slowly turned towards the doorway, resting my eyes on a pregnant Eve. After a moment of staring at eachother silently. I turned my gaze to notice Michael and Shane behind her. Yet, even in a moment of peace, Leo apparently felt he didn't get enough attention as he pushed backwards, away from the wall and knocked me towards another police officer. Dave and another officer began beating him down with batons and wrestled him away-towards the cells. I turned around and looked at them again. They all stared back at me.

"...Hi..." I said, uncertain. I'd heard rumors that someone had spotted them, but with all the corrupt people here, I didn't believe them. Not to mention, no one had said anything about my sister being pregnant. Guess I should've known it was gonna happen at some point. A small part of me envied Michael and Eve, as I only wished Claire and I could settle down.

"...Hey..." Said Eve, stepping forward. I looked around, then looked back at them.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. Eve stepped closer and Michael grabbed her, trying to halt her, but she pulled away from him and continued forward.

"Fay-Faylinn told us you were here." She told me. A small part of me thanked her. Yet, if they were calling her Faylinn, they obviously didn't realize she was Claire. I nodded. After a moment, Shane walked forward and stopped with the subtleness.

"Look, Lorien said you tried to save Claire. Is that true?" I nodded.

"Yeah, yeah, it is." I told him, narrowing my eyes. "What's it to you?" Disbelief crossed his face as he glared back.

"You know exactly what it is to me. I loved her. Why'd you try to save her? What could you possibly have to gain from it?" His tone was low and menacing. I didn't miss a beat.

"Because I loved her, too."

This braught him up short and he stumbled back a bit. I stood my ground for a moment, then, after giving them hard looks, I turned and continued back to my desk.

**I know this is a short chapter, I'm aware. My dad kept pressing me to get off the comp. I have an account on . I go by ShinoriUesugi. I've written 2 stories and a poem. Visit me. Also, remember the 52 Reviews. Right now, I need 4 more.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer; You know the drill. Faylinn Lorien and Angel (mine) and everything else (Rachel Caine).**

**Instead of reaching 52 Reviews, I got 54. I was super happy for this, so thank you. As well, it seemed everyone was surprised, but liked Jason's POV. However, we do have to get back to Claire/Fay now.**

**(Faylinn POV)**

Monica Morrel was ordered out of the Throne Room along with Sam, Alyssa and I. What else was there to it? Bishop wanted to get layed, so he stayed in there with Ysandre...yuck. Just yuck. As we made our way down the long and abandoned, candle-lit hallway, Monica suddenly stopped, piveted and shoved me against the wall.

"What-?" Sam started to say, moving to stop her.

"Hey!" 'Lyssa began to pull her off me.

"No. I need your attention and I need it now, Faylinn." Monica said sharply. I looked her up and down then met her eyes again.

"Sorry, you're not my type." I told her, shrugging. The strangest of looks crossed her face-as if she was figuring something out. She eyed me suspiciously. Then, gave up, shaking her head and closing her eyes.

"Look-" she commanded. "Bishop gave me a Death Warrant. I think you should see it."

"I don't think I want-" I began, but she cut me off. I shuddered. It could be for anyone. Including Shane, Alyssa, Eve and her baby...I didn't want to think about this. So I held my breath as Monica got out the scroll and unrolled it, holding it out for me to see...the name...the name was

_Faylinn Lorien__._

I didn't know what to say. I was breathless. It had happened again, just as I'd feared. Bishop had gotten tired of me. Wanted me dead...except, this time, he was pushing the task off to someone else as he went in the other room and played around with his true favorite. Sam and Alyssa couldn't see the name on the scroll, so they could not understand the horror on my face.

"Fay? What's the matter? Who is it? Is it Shane?" 'Lyssa asked, knowing the first place my suspicions had gone to. I shook my head. Monica silently turned around to show them and give me time to cope. I watched the expressions on their faces as it sunk in.

"That bastard!" Sam screamed, turning and heading back to the Throne Room. Alyssa and Monica ran after him, desperate to stop him. But I ran faster, appearing before him.

"Don't." I told him. "Don't. We'll do it just like last time. We'll fake my death, place me elsewhere and adjust the bracelet; make me look like someone else." Alyssa and Monica reached us then, panting. "Monica will report to Bishop, tell him she killed me-" Monica shook her head.

"No. He's going to want to see a body." Alyssa looked around at us.

"Well, couldn't we show him pictures?" We all thought about it for a moment, then Sam spoke up.

"Bishop'll want to know why we couldn't have braught him the body." Monica shrugged.

"She fell in a lake, for all I care. I figured I'd let her be and take pics to prove it." Sam gave her a questioning look.

"So, you're telling me you took pictures to prove she was dead-having known she was going to fall into the lake before she ever did?" We all thought about this for a moment, then decided he was right. I got an eerie feeling. Like someone was heading down the hallway, toward us.

"Hey. I don't think this is the right place to be doing this. We need to get to the Glass House. And we need to do it fast." I said shakily, interrupting whomever had been talking this time around. Sam, unlike himself, headed towards the hall closet...and took a step to the left...where the portal was. Amelie would kill us for using it, but it was there for emergencies and if this wasn't one, nothing was. There was a chance that if anyone, even Bishop, caught us in the hall now, he'd do the deed himself, then I'd really be dead. I ran over to the portal that was now focusing on the Glass House's livingroom. I didn't think, just ran through, as did Monica, Alyssa and Sam. When we got to the other side and stood safe in the large room, Sam hurried to shut it down as we all flopped down on the floor. We each slowly made our way to our feet and helped eachother up, only to meet a room full of people...

And Amelie.

She, unlike all the other shocked faces at defying her direct orders, was giving us the feircest of looks through large, astounded eyes.

"Sam!" She raised her voice in betrayal. Next, she looked to me. "Faylinn!" What scared me the most, was that her face suddenly took over a calm that I knew wasn't there. She was in no way calm, at this time. "All of you have dissobeyed my direct instructions. You've disregarded my rules. Bishop, as of now, will guess that something's off. Are you proud? What do you have to say for yourselves?" I was the one who stepped forward and faced her.

"Bishop...," I began, but got a dry mouth, not able to say the rest yet. I swallowed three times. "-Has ordered my death." I confessed, dropping to my knees, still shocked, myself. I looked up to see the four people that had just walked into the livingroom. First, my eyes found Shane, whom was shocked at the news and stood frozen in the archway. Eve and Michael were by the bookcases, with horrified expressions on their faces. Then, there was Jason, panting like crazy. Looking as if he'd been rushing to keep up with the three.

"Fay!" He exclaimed, running to me and picking me up from the floor, setting me on a couch lightly. He got on his knees on the floor infront of me, making us level, as he stared into my eyes. "Are you alright?" He asked warmly, worry clear on his face. My heart went out to him. I almost got together with him. If Shane, Eve and Michael hadn't shown up almost two weeks ago, we'd be together now. He was handsome, gorgeous, even, but my heart already belonged to someone else, whether my brain remembered him or not. Nonetheless, Shane didn't care for me the way Jason did, might never care for me like that.

Never again.

This added to the overwhelming thankfulness I felt towards Jason, as he did care. As he always would. With this, I silently dove forward and tackled him to the ground, embracing him as tightly as my arms could without hurting him. This, ofcourse, shocked him, but he was simply too happy to comply by returning the tight embrace.

"Thank you." I whispered to him. He was confused by this. He squirmed around, readjusting me so he could see my face.

"For what?" He asked, a perfect smile on his face.

"For caring."

"You're welcome, but do you honestly think that I'm the only one that does?" He gestured to everyone else in the room. Amelie face had softened entirely and she looked at me with complete love, like I was her daughter. Sam stood next to her, with that same expression. So did Frank, off in the corner, and several of Amelie's gaurds, 'Lyssa, even Monica with an you're-so-ridiculous roll of her eyes. After Bishop took over, we'd convinced Monica to take our side. Then, I took it a step further-as I'd heard it was her fault Alyssa had died-and made her be 'Lyssa's bodygaurd after I'd brought her back. It was her fault the fire had started, now she'd make sure the 17 year old didn't die again. Monica had been pissed at me, but they'd eventually realized they both had very sarcastic, bad-ass sense of humors and could be friends. The same senses of humours as Shane. With a start, I began to realize something.

Shane and Monica would make a better match than Shane and I ever would.

I hugged Jason tighter again and turned my head to look at Shane. I could see the slightest of caring for me in his eyes and on his slight smile, but nothing more. Eve and Michael had a deeper love on their faces for me, as well as bigger smiles.

"So, Faylinn. I don't know about you, my dear, but I'm really rather tired of the way my father treats everyone in this town, even his_ 'favorites'_." Amelie drew my attention, stepping forward with complete confidence in her eyes and the slight smirk she had. "What do you say we get together everyone we have and take Bishop by surprise?" I shook my head at her in disbelief, climbing off of Jason.

"Bishop's never taken by surprise." Amelie's smirk grew even wider at this.

"He is when everyone he thinks is dead, isn't." She picked up a radio and began to speak into it. "Myrnin, get everything prepared. Make sure everyone's aware and ready." She commanded. I stared at her in disbelief.

"But, Bishop could-" I began, looking at the radio she held.

"Bishop thinks I'm dead, the radio towers are down and we have no way to use them. He'll have absolutely no reason to be listening to a radio." She shrugged it off. After a silent moment, the radio made a slight noise, then a voice spoke.

"Ready for what, my dear?" Came Myrnin's melodic voice. I had to smile at this. I knew he was alive, but I hadn't been allowed to see him in so long, it was Heaven to hear my good friend and teacher.

"For battle. We attack Bishop tommorow night." Amelie said simply.

**Hey! Hope you liked it! I made it longer, as I couldn't decide when to cut off. I have an account on . I go by ShinoriUesugi. Please visit me. Also, I have a few pics as what I see Claire, Shane, Alyssa and Jason as on my profile...Jason's hot. Just say'in. **

** -I'mBelleGoose**


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer; Faylinn Lorien and Angel belong to me. everything else is by Rachel Caine.**

**I love you guys and your feedback. I really appreciate that you're reading my story. Thank you. Now, what I've been trying to put in my notes for you guys keeps getting erased. Basically, I have an account on this site's sister site. It's called "Fictionpress(dot)com". I have a poem and two stories up. I go by ShinoriUesugi and the site works exactly like this one as it's owned by the same people.**

**(Shane POV)**

The Glass House was filled with humans to no end. We had many people and some I would've never guessed to have seen here.

Never again.

Chief Hannah Moses stood by, giving orders to many of her cops-Jason and his colleagues-as her boyfriend, Mayor Richard Morrel, made plans and arrangements with the not-so-dead-after-all vamps. It was heading toward lunch and we still had alot to do for the attack tonight, even though we had started yesterday at around the same time. Myrnin was on the radio, giving orders and demands to the vampires, wherever they were hidden.

"Collins!" Hannah's voice called. I made my way through the crowd and stopped infront of her.

"Yes, ma'am?" My voice rang at the same time another female and male's did. I looked over to see Alyssa and Frank. Hannah smirked and handed something to my dad.

"Frank, this is a bow and arrow. The arrow, however, is very special; it's tip is covered with poison. We were only able to get and make one-coutesy of Oliver. Above all else, aim for Bishop. Now, only having one and being poisonous enough to kill any vampire, you must not miss." She told him firmly, giving my father the honor. Frank took it and nodded, complying. I began to turn and walk away, finding one of the other police officers-the one that held all the weapons and was handing 'em out. "Whoa, hold it, Shane. Where do you think you're going?" I gestured around to everyone.

"Preparing to fight. Probably gonna go find a taser or something. Somethin' fun." Hannah shook her head at me.

"Look, Eve is pregnant and we feel she wouldn't be able to fight. How about you stay behind with her?" She asked, though I had a feeling she wasn't really asking.

"Texas Prairie is being locked down and gaurded tonight, put Eve there. They'll keep her safe. Besides, Bishop doesn't have any real reason to go after her. Me? I'm fighting." I pushed on stubbornly.

"I don't think so. I have direct orders to keep you from the fight." I was dumbstruck. Amelie wouldn't keep from the attack. She'd let me risk my life trying.

"And who ordered that?" I demanded.

"Faylinn Lorien." She answered immediately. My arms shot up above my head.

"No way! She did not! I don't belive this! How could she!" I screamed, anger drenching my tone. I knew everyone was giving me odd looks, but because of stupid Miss Lorien, I would _never_ get my revenge against Bishop for the things he did to Claire. I was mad at Bishop for taking over, I was angry Jason was in love with Claire. Now? Now I was _furious_ that Lorien interfered with _my_ life and _my_ free will. I slammed my fists down on a nearby table, shaking my head in disgust at the lengths she went.

"Shane..." Hannah said softly, working into whatever she needed to say. "Don't get so angry with her. She did it to protect you." I looked up as two people approached. A worried Michael and Eve. "She loves you, ya'know." Hannah continued, still using a soft voice. This caused all three of us to look at her, shocked. "And you love her, too." I let clear disbelief cover every centimeter of my face.

"That's one thing I don't understand. I care for her. She's a little more than an acquintance-a friend, at all limits-but I usely act like she's a nuisance, so why does she feel that way?" I asked rhetorically of all three of them. I, ofcourse, didn't get an answer. I fixed my gaze on Hannah again. "And you're wrong about that, by the way; that last part." Hannah smiled and shook her head.

"No. I'm not. You just don't realize it yet." And she walked away, giving out more orders. Eve cooed at her stomach and Michael smirked and wiggled his eyebows at me.

"Shut up!" I shoved him a bit.

,,jjmkou878njgynmi (this randomness shows an amount of time has passed)

Michael and I were sent out to try and recruit anyone from anywhere we could. The first stop was the shops in town. To gather any employee, owner and/or manager that had something to bring to the attack. This was a very important job and I was going to do it to the best of my abilities. We had to be cautious and take our time as we made our way through everyone; Bishop's people could be anywhere at any time. Yet, at the same time, we had to contradict ourselves and go as fast as possible as the time to fight, using the element of surprise, was drawing near. The sun was going down as of now and it was during the first of those dark hours that we'd take action.

We had many at the ready; what I would call enough, but Amelie wasn't satisfied and wanted as many capable to fight as possible. This was the only job that no one had banned me from-especially Lorien-so I complyed easily. I hadn't seen Lorien all day-not since yesterday. I began to wonder where she had gone, then stopped myself. Why the hell should I care? Who was I to wonder if she was alright? No one. We had gained two people...twelve shops, comprised of thirty and up, and we gained two.

I wasn't too hopeful after that.

Next, we were to hit Gramma Day's house. Amelie had specifically sent us there as she was sure there was a gathering of some sort-Gramma having somehow known how important tonight was. We had to watch eachother's backs, though, Michael and I. A dead girl had been found in the alleyway next to her house.

One of Bishop's Death Warrants, I was sure.

As always, Amelie had been correct about Gramma and her little organization.

"We're going to go up against Bishop tonight. In about an hour or so." Michael said, looking at his watch. The crowd stood silent. As did we, waiting for someone to step forward.

"And?" A woman around thirty asked. The crowd looked at us with the same silent tone the woman had used. "What do you want from us? A round of applause?" Michael and I looked at eachother, becoming wary as we began to explain our motives.

"We have a fair amount already fighting, but we're searching through town to find more willing members for the battle." Michael said with complete profession and maturity. "We had a tip-off that there would be a large number of people here." He gestured to all of them, waving his hands around the livingroom we all stood in. It was very decorative and formal-the kind of livingroom a rich housewife would've put together. It didn't escape my notice, though, that Gramma wasn't present. What also caught my attention was an African-American male that was making his way through the crowd and heading for the door. I immediately knew why.

"Michael!" I yelled, moving towards the man, myself. Michael turned toward the man in confusion and he was hit with realization, moving faster toward the male then I could. The crowd began to descend toward me and the direction the two had gone, screaming at us.

"You have no right to-"

"What gives you the gall-"

"The nerve!"

"This is _our _territory." Came the first woman's firm voice. I met her gaze and stepped toward her, raising my own voice.

"Yes. But for how long?" I asked. The crowd's yelling quickly died down as they tried to understand what I was saying.

"Excuse me?" The woman asked, voice hard, eyes narrowed.

"This is your house-your home-your territory...but for how long? You're lucky Bishop hasn't taken it away over the course of these six years. Just watch. There will be changes soon. I gaurantee you that Bishop'll begin taking things away from us." I assured them. I knew I was right. Bishop took things from them daily. Their life, the lives of their loved ones, their homes, their businesses. The people rolled their eyes and turned their attention elsewhere.

"Ofcourse he will. Look at the things you try to set up against him." The woman pointed out with atrocity.

"Yeah? Bishop's been taking things from everyone for years, yet this is the first time anyone has set something like this up." I told her, making my point. "Thank you for your time." I left them all standing in wonder, as they thought about my words. Half of me didn't care what they did. The other half hoped my manipulation would work. I made it to the bottom of the stairs and three feet from Michael's car when the crowd caught up to me.

"Wait! Look, we'll be there. We load everyone up in the cars and head down to the Glass House. You can count on us." Another man said. The crowd, sure enough, started splitting off and heading to the present vehicles. I nodded and reached for the door handle. "And, if you like, we could spare a man or two to help you two look for more fighters." The man allowed kindly. I smiled and shook my head.

"Thank you, but no thank you. They need everyone they can get for the attack. Michael and I got this. Take care, man." He nodded.

"You too. And good luck." He patted my arm in the comforting way we men do. I did the same back and got in the car. Michael already sat in the driver's seat, ready to go. He grinned at me.

"I knew you could do it." His voice rang in sincere confidence.

"Thanks, man. And Bishop's guy?" I asked, wondering where the African-American had gotten to. Michael nodded toward the back seat as he started the car, pulling away from Gramma Day's. The man was tied up with rope and his mouth was covered with duct tape. The sad news was that the sun was down and the sky was dark. We were minutes away from the fight. Twenty, at the most.

Nonetheless, no matter when the fight started, Michael and I had to continue through town on our search. The anticipation and fear of the people I knew-and even the people I didn't-grew fierce. I knew how big this was. No matter who won, anyone could die on their exhibition to victory. There were some I wouldn't mind being without; Ysandre, Bishop, their gaurds. There were others I was scared to lose; Alyssa, Michael, Sam, Frank-even Lorien. My worry for them overwhelmed me as they were family and friends. Eve, as I had suggested, was taken to TPU earlier and wouldn't be easily found and harmed. All of TPU was being gaurded by the ones Amelie didn't feel would be of much use in the fight. We had had enough to have spared those people, though that left them with less people to fight beside. Michael and I, however, were fixing that problem.

Next stop was the bar. Jason and Hannah had suggested that the alcoholics, in their drunken rages, would be great fighters. They'd just to have watch themselves around the vamps and try to take down the humans that were working for Bishop.

Michael and I walked in, drawing every pair of eyes.

"Has anyone seen Leo?" I asked. Jason had specifically suggested him.

"Who's asking?" Leo said, sitting on a bar stool, surrounded by a bunch of men.

"Shane. Shane Collins. Jason said-" I began, being cut off.

"Yeah? What does that _'officer' _say?" He challenged me. I shrugged and began to turn.

"Oh, nothin'. Just something about betting that you can't take down Bishop's men. Especially in your drunken state." I said matter-of-factly, walking with Michael to the door. Jason didn't really say that, but if it got Leo and his men to fight, I'd be glad to use that excuse. He slammed his beer down and swore.

"Why that son of a-" he said loudly, then got up from his stool and moved toward us. "You tell that asshole that I want twenty when I prove him wrong." And he walked past us, going to his truck and driving away. Michael and I turned and looked at the rest of the bar's inhabitants.

"There's a fight down at Bishop's! Are we gonna fight?" Michael screamed, and to my amazement ...

"Hell yeah!" They screamed back, downing their alcohol and getting to their own vehicles. I held out my hand to Michael, whom took and shook it.

"Well done, m'man. Well done." He nodded, looking smug. We headed back to the car and continued on our quest. A few specific houses that were likely to want revenge against Bishop, the three people caged in Town Square, and anywhere else that came to mind. By the time we had gotten done-which, the fight had started about twenty-three minutes ago-we had gathered twice as many as Amelie had in the first place. Nearly everyone besides the town shops had willing joined the attack. Michael and I braught the man to TPU and had him gaurded as he had searched for Eve. When Michael's back was turned, I told one of the TPU gaurds that I was supposed to join the fight. He let me borrow his car to head down to Bishop's building, further located in Town Square.

I busted in through the gates, aware of all the other cars there. I was joining a hell of a fight. I knew I had been forbidden to join the fight and that I could end up in huge trouble, but I would make sure Claire was avenged. Even if I didn't personally bring Bishop down, I'd do whatever damage I could. As I ran through the halls, toward the Ball Room-as the Throne Room had been deserted-I recognized the dead bodies that layed silent on the floors. Some belonged to Bishop, others to us. They weren't people I personally knew, though.

When I reached the Ball Room, I knew this was where the fight was at. The noise as people screamed-in pain and victory alike-and the clanging of metalistic weapons, and gunshots. They mixed together in unbelievable harmony. This was the sound of war. I walked through the door, grabbing a sword from one of Bishop's dead men. The flurry of people was so strong and intense that the room itself was almost lost. I felt my blood pump and my heart beat faster as I saw Bishop, fighting Oliver. I rand at my top speed towards the first man of Bishop's I saw. He fought with one of the bar men, but staggered and fell when my blade peirced his side.

"Aah!" I yelled in triumph, along with the drunken man. Another of Bishop's gaurd almost stabbed us both while we were distracted. I turned and slit his throat. Then ran screaming to others. I was in the fight for five minutes when Hannah came up and killed someone who'd been trying to sneak up on me. She looked furious with me.

"You shouldn't be here! Go to TPU!" She screamed, trying to be heard above the noise. I shook my head vigorously, picking up someone's gun.

"I have just as much right to be here as you." I yelled back, straining to be heard.

"You-" She started, when I shot the woman that had protruded towards her. Hannah stared at the dead body and walked off silently, knowing she wasn't winning this argument. I screamed in victory and continued to make my way toward Bishop. As I shot people, I began to wonder what had happened to Frank. He was supposed to shoot Bishop with that arrow. Yet, Bishop still stood and fought strongly. Did Frank miss the target? Was he killed before he could? Or was he still out here fighting and hadn't been able to try yet? I didn't know. This scared me.

I came to find myself standing against Ysandre. I pointed the gun right at her. She simply smiled, with...happiness...? Why would she be happy of me shooting her?

"Poor little Shane. You're out of bullets." She said in confidence. I pulled the trigger.

Empty. Damn.

I tossed the gun to the ground. She was a vampire and I was weaponless. I was starting to regret having dropped that sword earlier.

"Alright. So attack me." I shrugged, knowing anyone else would've. She stared at me with that smile of hers.

"You don't have to die. You could join us. I'd take care of you. All you have to do is say the word." She purred, slinking her arm over my shoulders and whispering in my ears. "I could be your girl." I felt the trigger go off. Not from my gun, but in my heart.

"Claire Danvers was my girl." I whispered back. "You're just some bitch that's desperate to get layed." In her stunned moment, I ripped myself from her arms and turned, flinging myself toward the dual-blade sword that rested feet from me. Just as I turned in time to stab the advancing Ysandre, she was shot. I looked in the direction the shot had come from.

Faylinn Lorien.

She stood just in my view, surrounded by dead bodies. She looked slightly angry with me, yet more worried.

"No!" Came a deafening shriek. Faylinn turned her head just in time to see an arrow heading in her direction. This was a special arrow and ten feet behind her was an unaware Bishop, fully exposed to feel the entire impact of his death.

If it didn't kill Faylinn first.

I could see Frank and Alyssa running toward her in horror, trying to stop it in its tracks. It was only when I noticed how close they were getting that I realized I was running too. I had been the moment I had seen her. Another cry of tragedy brought me back to the present. My sister's second wail.

"Claire!" She screamed, forgetting all else. My world collapsed around me as the realization hit. Faylinn Lorien...was Claire Danvers.

And Claire Danvers had been hit in the arm by that arrow.

**Hope the tragedy is making you want to read more. I worked really hard on this chapter. Now, I'm gonna try something new. Jason's gonna have to meet a girl. So give me an idea of what she should be like and I'll either average it out in the end, choose the character I think would work best, or choose a few and have you guys vote.**

** -I'mBelleGoose**


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer; Faylinn Lorien and Angel are mine. Everything else belongs to Rachel Caine.**

**This story, as I'm sure you guys know, is beginning to come to an end. There'll only be a few more chapters. However, I was thinking about doing a sequel. Tell me what you think about that.**

**(Shane POV)**

Claire fell to the ground. I watched as the arrow kept moving, though and as Bishop turned, it pierced him in the back. He, too, fell. I continued to run to Claire. Everything suddenly clicked. Why she loved me, why she insisted that Claire didn't want me to fight and why she, herself, had banned me from the attack. Sam, as Francois, came up and hit a button on his watch. As I took an unconcious Claire in my arms and layed her on my lap, Sam-now restored to his own appearance-knelt down and clicked a button on her bracelet.

She now looked like the woman I loved. Her blonde hair reached her hips, her skin was paler than I remembered, but she was a vampire now. She began to move and opened her big, blue eyes, staring up at me.

What she saw, I didn't know. So many of my thoughts were taken up with the worry I had for her that I didn't have room to wonder what expression I wore.

"Shane..." She whispered faintly. I smiled at her.

"Claire..." I whispered back. She had every bit of my attention. Nothing else mattered. After a moment, she smiled back.

"I thought you'd get mad." She told me, reffering to her true identity. I shook my head.

"I can't get mad at the woman I love." I said. This added more light to her eyes.

"I love you, too." She answered simply, closing her eyes as her head dropped.

niunkppn hbbbbnsjbjbhkmhn ngnjn jnjggkjhj(Again, lapse in time)

I sat in agony on the porch steps to the Glass House. It had been a week since Amelie had let Myrnin, Sam and Oliver take Claire's limp body away. There had been no updates, no calls, no messages of any sort. They said they'd take care of her wound; make her better.

My hope was gone now.

I couldn't let Claire go. Not ever. Even if she was dead. I was even okay with her being a vampire, as long as I could be with her. Now I was starting to think I never would.

Never again.

"Shane. Amelie's here...says she wants to talk to you." Michael informed me, standing in the doorway. I looked up at the sun and blinked alot, trying to disguise the tears I was fighting. This was it. Amelie would tell me that they'd done all they could, but some injuries were past saving. She was going to tell me that my Claire was dead. I trudged into the house and rounded the corner into the livingroom. Amelie sat on one of the couches and looked at me warily as I entered.

"Amelie." I nodded to her, taking a seat on a stray chair.

"Shane." She nodded back. "You discourage my best spy, you lie to an entire crowd of drunks, make poor Jason Rosser the target for our town's craziest alcoholic, willingly enter a war you were specifically ordered not to, let little Claire think you despise her, and-" I flinched at her tone, too heartbroken to bother arguing. "You saved everyone." She said simply.

"I what?" I asked, not sure I'd heard right.

"What you and Michael did..." Amelie shook her head. "You pulled off a miracle. We were steadily beginning to lose the fight to Bishop and his men when a crowd of people stormed in and fought alongside us. And more kept comming." She shrugged. "Honestly, you were a huge part to why we won. Thank you. As long as it is in my reach, I will get it for you. Name your price." I didn't even have to think about it.

"Claire."

"Ah, yes. Claire. That reminds me." She began, sipping tea from a fine china. "She is still hurt, but recovering well. She will be ready to return to the Glass House in two days time." I was stunned where I sat.

"She's not dead?" I asked. This caught Amelie off gaurd.

"Ofcourse she's not dead. Tell me you have more faith in us than that, Mr. Collins." I shook my head, overcome with astonishment and new-found joy. "Anyway, I shall take my leave and let you tend to patience upon the young lady's arrival."

"Woman." I stated, shaking my head. "Faylinn Lorien-Claire Danvers-is a woman." Amelie stopped and stared at me for a moment as a smile spread across her face. She nodded, then turned to her gaurds and the portal, waving as she stepped through the other side. And she dissapeared as the portal closed. I sat on the couch and pulled out my old games, turning them on and trying to make the next two days go faster. All time went faster when I played my games.

The games didn't help.

The two days took what felt like-well, two days. It was pure agony on my part. I had patience to put up with Frank and 'Lyssa's constant company, I had patience to sit in the same room with Michael and Eve as they argued baby names, but I did not have enough patience to wait until my love arrived. Who are we kidding? I didn't match my name perfectly; I was no Patience Goldman.

On the day she was to return to the Glass House, I was up early in the morning-watching and waiting. I was surprised as the portal opened early in that morning-before Michael or Eve were even up. I had half expected them to wait until afternoon or night time.

"Alright. Careful there, Myrnin. She's still pretty weak." I could hear Sam saying, though I couldn't fully see them yet. As I caught sight of the long blonde strands I knew well, I stood up and progressed toward the crowd of vampires. Amelie was there, and Myrnin carried her in his arms, Sam directed Myrnin. At last, the half-crazy vampire scientist layed a sleeping Claire down on the couch gently and quietly backed away. I continued toward the couch until I stood, looking directly down at the peaceful woman. Looking at her now and how soft and glowing her skin was and the way her long blonde hair shined even in the dim light of the rsing sun, I realized that the last time I had seen her-in Bishop's Throne Room-she'd been smeared with blotches of dirt and soot, and her hair was just as bad.

Claire wore a white tank top and jeans. She'd probably have worn a regular tee, but about four inches of the arm closest to me were bundled up in bandages; small parts here and there in red.

"She still needs a good amount of rest over the next week, so if you can convince her to either sleep or do really simple, unarduous tasks, it would be best. As well, the more recomended foods are any type of soup, healthy broth-even fruits and vegetables." Amelie ordered as the other two vampires stood adjacent and awaited the time of their departure. I nodded. "Thank you again, Shane. And take good care of Claire." With this, they departed. I was suprised that they were really gone as the portal closed. I expected to get a monologue from at least one of them if not all three. Insane. Looking at her tight-fitting jeans, I imagined she was uncomfortable, so I left her side for a quick moment to run upstairs and grab a pair of my pajama bottoms-of which I wore one pair.

She was still fast asleep as I entered the room again. I carefully undid her button and zipper and slowly slid her pants down, trying not to wake her. To my utter relief, I accomplished this task. In dragging zzz's, I slid the thin fabric all the way up and folded over the waistband until I could see her pelvic bones, making it fit her better. Then I, just as Myrnin did, backed away warily and let her sleep. I wasn't going to wake her, I wasn't going to watch her sleep.

She was home. That was all that mattered.

I retreated to the kitchen and thanked whomever had stalked-up our kitchen. I grabbed the carton of eggs from the fridge and the bacon from the freezer. I started frying the bacon and started the scrambled eggs half-way through the bacon. As both were almost done, I made some toast. Michael and Eve would get their own when they woke up and I was about to make my plate. First, though, I made Claire a plate and set it on a tray with some orange juice we had. Okay, so maybe she was vampire and drank blood now. She also still enjoyed the taste of the food and I was going to lighten the mood any way I could. Especially by being romantic.

As I carried her tray into the livingroom-going to set it on the coffee table for her until she woke up-my plans were ruined, as she was sitting up on the couch, eyeing the p.j bottoms. Her eyes flashed up to mine as I entered the room. Her gaze then fixed on the tray. I smiled. She could smell it. Her eyes followed it always; in a way, she reminded me of a puppy or a kitten. I set it down on her lap and stared at it in wonder.

"Thank you..." she mumbled, too astonished to say much more. I watched as she picked up the fork and began immediately, picking up her pace as she tasted the first bite; as if she hadn't known how hungry she was until it hit her tongue.

"Your welcome." I answered back. I figured she was okay for a moment, so I entered the kitchen and got my own plate, retreating back to the livingroom. I sat in the chair just a foot from the couch. "So how's your arm?" I asked lightly. This stopped her-three bites from being done. She nodded and her big, blue eyes met my stare.

"It's alright. It hurts a little, but nowhere near what it did..." she reasoned, voice drifting off, as if she'd cut her sentence in half from what she'd been going to say. I didn't speak, allowing her to work up to whatever else she had to say. She took the three bites, then spoke. "So what? Your human decency is letting you care about my well-being now?" This stopped my fork halfway and turned my bones cold. I turned to stare at her with wide eyes.

"Don't...don't you remember? After you were hit...?" I stammered. She nodded once, eyes focused on me.

"Yes. You said you loved me." She recalled. "I mean Claire Danvers." She shook her head. I knew my face showed my confusion. "My name is Claire, but I am no longer her. She was whom I used to be. I'm closer to Faylinn Lorien these days. Besides, back when I was Faylinn, you wanted nothing to do with me." She insisted. I now set my plate on the coffee table and shook my head.

"I kept my distance from you because-even if you were dead-I didn't want anything to do with other woman. Because you mean more to me than any other woman ever has. And you're right; you have changed. I don't care. I still love you and I still want you." I explained, being entirely honest. This seemed to catch her off gaurd.

"You're okay with the fact that I'm not the person you fell in love with?" She doubted. I shook my head, again, getting frustrated.

"But you are the person I fell in love with. You've just changed a little. Who doesn't, over time?" I stressed. She set the tray and already-gone orange juice glass to the side and jumped up from the couch.

"Yeh? And you were confident enough that I'd take you back that you thought I'd be okay with you changing me while I slept?" She demanded; still trying to pick a fight, if you ask me. I shrugged.

"Well, no. Mainly, I just wanted you to be comfortable." I admitted. This, too, caught her off gaurd.

"Oh? And I suppose you thought I'd be okay with someone whom defies my orders?" She was nearly yelling now, as she thrusted her accusations toward me. I jumped up from the chair, facing her and yelled back.

"No! But I had a job to do!"

"And what was that?"

"Protect your honor!"

This easily brought her up short.

"Yeah, well-!" She began, still yelling.

"Look! There's only one thing that matters; do you love me?"

"Yes-!" She started to scream something else, but I cut her off.

"And I love you!" I grabbed her shoulders and pulled her toward me, bringing our lips together roughly and kissing her with every amount of passion I had. She tried to resist, at first, then gave in and added her own passion. Everything was intense. I missed these moments so much that I almost cried as we continued, not holding back at all.

A throat cleared.

We broke away quickly, both stumbling back a bit to find Michael and Eve, a little lost. I felt so stupid. I should've known our argument would wake them.

"Hey, man." Michael hesitated, looking from me to Claire and back. "A little early to suck face, isn't it? I'm pretty sure I'll be scarred for life...Which is a long time." Eve glared and smacked an unsuspecting Michael.

"I think it's romantic. Look! He even made her breakfast-in-bed. Aww." She clasped her hands togther and stared adoringly at the two of us. "It's been months said you did something like that for me." She accused the poor vampire, begrudgingly. He held his hands up in surrender. Michael quickly moved toward the kitchen to make her a plate of the leftovers. "So, uh...I take it you don't remember me?" She asked Claire, lightly. Claire hesitated, then shook her head.

"I have Amnesia. I only remember the last five years of my life."

"Ah. Well, I'm Eve Rosser."

"Hello, Eve. I'm Claire."

They grinned at eachother and shook hands.

We'd never be without our Claire.

Never again.

**No. I'm not done. I know I haven't updated in quite a while; my parents informed me and my brother they were getting a divorce recently-as I began this chapter. I couldn't write after that. The last few weeks have been rough, especially since I'm not 18 yet and still have to live with one of 'em.**

** Anyway, here's the vote:**

**Should Jason be with, **

**a.) A rebel-like him**

**b.) An innocent girl-his opposite**

**c.) Alyssa Collins**


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer; I own Faylinn Lorien and Angel. Everything and everyone else belongs to Rachel Caine.**

**My school has just started and I'm taking French, so I decided to incorporate what I've learned (a small conversation, really) into this chapter. **

**(Jason POV)**

"Hey. Officer Rosser," Hannah called. "There's a phone call for you." She walked by my desk, on her way in the opposite direction; she was smirking, though. I hesitated, then picked up the phone.

"Hello? Officer Jason Rosser speaking. What is your business?" I asked. The craziest, yet-unfortunately-familiar voice gave me a devilish chuckle.

"You still owe me twenty, Rule Kid." Leo responded. I sighed long and hard, covering my eyes.

"1-_I didn't bet you anything_; it was all Shane. 2-I don't enforce rules, I enforce _laws_ and 3-I'm not a kid; I'm an adult." I lectured him. "Just like you, Leo."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." At this point, he was too drunk to remember why he called and hung up all on his own. Thank God. Just five minutes later, I got another incoming call; Leo, again. He must have began to remember why he'd called me when the bartender kept insisting on him paying before he'd get more to drink.

"Jaso-" one of the secretaries said, coming up to my desk. I shook my head.

"I'm not falling for that again. I don't want any calls from Leo. He's drunk and so far outta it, even I don't know where he is-mentally, ofcourse." I added. The lady nodded.

"Yes, that's true. I'll tell him." She began to walk away. "Oh! And Hannah says she wants you down at TPU; there have been call-in complaints of a suspicious character." I nodded, grabbing my radio, gun and baton from the top of my desk. I rode down to TPU alone and tried to ease into the parking lot. If there was a strange and/or creepy person lurking about, I'd catch 'em-not let my issue to being subtle give them warning and time to escape. I rounded a corner carefully into the main courtyard and looked around. I already saw people fast-walking in my direction and looking behind them 's when I saw her.

"Coma sauve?" She asked eagerly of people passing by, following them a little-until they ran away and someone else came close enough. "Sauve soupe! At woo?" I shook my head. Not in shame, not in anger; in absolute wonder and familiarity. She didn't notice as I walked up and stationed myself behind her.

"Try 'comment ca va?'" I suggested. She turned to me. Then looked at someone close by and pronounced it as I had. "Now 'ca va super! Et toi?" She copied my sentence again and got less weird looks and more pleased ones. She had a longer conversation this time in French. Ah, yes. Comment ca va?; How's it going? as Ca va super!; It's going super! and Et toi?: And you?

"Wow. I didn't know you spoke French. When did that start?" Alyssa asked. I shrugged.

"I learned it in jr. high and what I took of high school. Just one of many things most people don't know about me." I shrugged it off, sighing. Sure, to everyone-even Amelie, Shane and Claire (the last two were 'together', but hadn't made it official)-I was the bad boy-gone-good. This was a good thing, ofcourse, but this meant they didn't know the little things about me.

"Yeah? What's another?" She asked, curiously, taking a seat on a bench. I sat next to her and thought for a moment.

"I'm not a bad cook. My specialty is spaghetti." I reasoned, gauging her reaction. This made her eyebrows raise and her eyes get real big. She stayed like that for a moment, then narrowed her eyes at me suspiciously.

"And if I said I didn't believe you?" She asked. A smile broke on my face.

"Well-then I'd have to prove it to you, wouldn't I?" The narrow eyes remained, but it was only because of the way her eyes scrunched up when she smiled at my recommendation.

"You would." She nodded once. "And when are we gonna test your _amazing_ cooking?" I thought about it. I was working double shifts for the next several nights; tonight was my last night off.

"Tonight." I answered. "My apartment at eight." I told her, both of us still smiling. We both stood up and waved goodbye, going in opposite directions. "Oh!" I turned towards her and said loudly. She turned back towards me, already several feet away. "And don't eat anything before coming over. I'm making the entire course." She grinned, and so did I, turning away to continue to my car.

When I got back to the station, I went up to the lady I'd talked to before I'd left.

"Hey, Jane. That suspicious character wasn't some crazy. So just forget about it." I told her, starting to edge away from her desk.

"Really? Who was it? And what were they doing?" I sighed.

"A teen girl trying to practice her French and mispronouncing all the words." I said, shaking my head with a chuckle. She, too, laughed.

"Alright. Consider the investigation off."

"Thanks, Jane." I walked back to my desk and picked it up a bit, before there was a smack on my head. "Leo!" I growled, jumping to my feet and turning on my heel. There he stood, and was tackled to the floor by all the cops around us, before I could do so myself.

"I want my twenty." He said gruffly, his eyes going cross-eyed. I sighed.

"Look, Leo-if I give you a twenty, will you leave me alone?" As the cops pulled him to his feet, handcuffed, he began laughing.

"My affections are worth more than a twenty, boy." I stated firmly. I shook my head.

"I'm not trying to buy your affections. I'm trying to get rid of them." I informed.

"Sure you are." He said, in that annoying tone that meant that he didn't believe me. I gave up and turned to my desk, again-getting back to work as Leo was dragged off.

As 7:30 approached and I was getting ready to go home and cook for Alyssa, when Hannah stopped me from heading out the door.

"Hold on. I need you to do something. Richard and I have to go to one of Amelie's Town Hall meetings. At the same time, there's a meeting being held here. I need you to be there in my place and call me when the meetings over." She waited for my answer. Yet, we both know that I was going to say 'yes'; simply because I didn't want to lose my job and she was cheif of police.

"Yes." I told her. "But I need to make a call first." I thought about 'Lyss, then realized that I didn't know her phone number. The next best thing would be to call Shane-he'd know his sister's number...but I didn't want to tell Shane that I was having a one-on-one dinner with his sister. He'd overreact and kill me and even if he didn't, he'd give her a piece of his mind. I didn't want her to have to sit through that. "Nevermind. Tell Amelie that everything here is going well...and tell Oliver I said 'hi'." I grinned, as did she, knowing it would piss him off. The whole bromance/man-crush thing creeped him out; I liked girls too much to ever consider going that way. Besides, Oliver wasn't a looker-I'd have better taste in men than that, if I was gay.

"Will do."

After the meeting and calling Hannah to inform her on things, I rushed to my car. It was 7:55. I was lucky; the meeting could've run longer than it had. Nonetheless, I had five minutes and the drive to my apartment was an eight minute drive.

When I finally got there, Alyssa was walking up the stairs to my apartment. I could see her in the faint glow of the streetlights. As I made my way up to her, filled with anticipation and joy, she knocked on the door and waited.

"Bonjoir!" I said, behind her now. She jumped and turned.

"Salut!" She was out of breath. I smiled and she returned it.

"Here." I grabbed my keys and opened the door, turning on the light as she wandered inside, looking around in curiosity. "Welcome. I know it's not fancy, but it's home." I told her. She shook her head.

"No. It is home. It's also the place that you pay for-all on your own." I nodded, confused though. "It's just, you support yourself entirely, that's very-" she stopped. Just stopped, mid sentence.

"What?" I asked.

"No. No, it's nothing."

"Really. What is it? I wont laugh." She hesitated, then answered in a small voice.

"Manly. That's very manly." She blushed and looked away. I felt myself blush a little.

"Well. We wouldn't want me being a woman, would we?" I asked, smiling. She met my gaze and laughed, shaking her head. "So, sorry I was running late. I got called to a meeting last minute." I explained. She shrugged.

"That's okay. We'll just make dinner together, then. That way you can teach me some of your mad skills." She said sarcastically with a raised eyebrow. It was so hot, I had to stop myself from growling. I also had to do a mental double-take. Since when was Alyssa hot? ..._Since now_, I declared. She walked over to the kitchen and began getting pots and pans out. I leaned against the counter, folding my arms as I watched. She managed to find everything but the strainer. I reached for the cabinet just to the side of her head just after she stood up and turned toward me. I wasn't sure what expression I wore; I was too focused on her's. She seemed to be holding her breathe as she gazed at me through half-closed eyes. I began to lean in, wanting to touch her pouting lips to mine. Her eyes kept closing more and more, as did mine. Just before our lips touched, the phone started ringing. I opened my eyes and leaned back, pulling the strainer from the cabinet, then getting the phone. I felt a small part of relief, as Alyssa wasn't the woman I loved. Yet, an even big part of me was dissapointed that I hadn't gotten to kiss her.

**So? Like it? I tried to make this as cute and romancy as I could. Please tell me how I did. Would you guys PLEASE read my story "Times in the life of Chaos" on fictionpress(dot)com. I go by ShinoriUesugi. And if/when you do, please leave me a review to tell me how you liked it. PLEASE. no one's read that story yet and Chaos is one of my fav characters.**

**-I'mBelleGoose**


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer; I own Faylinn Lorien and Angel and that one girl named Brianna-the one I'm sure none of you remember. Anyway, you know the drill-Rachel Caine owns everything but the three girls I just named. **

**This will be one of the last chapters. The absolute most I'd finish the story with would be at the 20th chapter. This is the 17th. It's been around a month or so since i've last updated, but my teachers seem to think it's okay to pile on tons of homework and due to my parents divorce, I seem to have acquired some depression. not fun.**

**(Shane POV) **

Alyssa had left about forty-five minutes ago and I wasn't confident in her being back any time soon. Not that I knew where she'd gone, but I trusted her. Therefore, this was the perfect opportunity to make a smoother move on Claire. We'd barely spoken since she'd been brought back to the Glass House; she was probably trying to get used to it.

Right now, she was sitting on one of the couches, reading a book. Michael and Eve had gone to bed a while ago. I was determined to get another kiss out of her. Especially now, looking at her beautiful form. Her long hair was up in a messy bun and she wore a tanktop and female p.j bottoms.

"Hey, Claire." I said casually, sitting next to her on the couch.

"Hello, Shane." She met my gaze, suspiciously, then turned back to her book.

"So, uh, I was wondering if you wanted to have-"

"Sex?" She asked. "No thank you. My heart may know you, but my brain doesn't." She told me firmly. I rolled my eyes and shook my head.

"First of all, what does that have to do with anything?" I questioned. "Besides, that wasn't what I was gonna ask. Would you like to have dinner with me. I didn't get to eat and Mike and Eve said they went out to eat."

"...No."

"Y'know," I sighed. "I'm starting to get really tired of all your resisting. I know this is strange for you and you're trying to get to know us again, but-"

"But what? You want me to hurry all of it along...?_ So you can get laid_?" Ofcourse, this came out sharply and she began to get up. I don't know what I was thinking, but I said the same thing I would have, had she still remembered me.

"And are you saying that you haven't pictured it...or wanted it?" She stopped midstep, looking straight ahead, then looked at me and, to my satisfaction, blushed. _So she had thought about it. _With this, I got up and walked upstairs, smirk on my face. "G'night." No. It had not gone as I'd hoped, but I knew where to start. Her life was going to be impossibly troublesome from now on; I'd make sure of it.

**(Alyssa POV)**

I shrank back in dissapointment. He'd been about to kiss me. I was sure of it. I stood in a veil of glum as Jason answered the phone. After a moment, I continued to get out the ingredients for our dinner. I got the noodles from his pantry, unthawed hamburger meat sat in his fridge, as did other things...what caught my attention was the beer. I'd always been curious about trying it, but decided this wasn't the time to feed my curiosity. There was uncooked garlic bread on the counter by his bread. Then, was the sauce that had been hidden in the back of his pantry.

As he continued with what seemed to be an important call-a work call, probably-I planned it all out, preheating the oven and opening the hamburger meat. These would take the longest. After another moment, Jason left the room with the phone, searching for something for the person on the other line, it seemed. I began to brown the meat and put the garlic bread in the oven.

As I was flipping the meat, trying to get the parts that had escaped the wrath og the grease and heat, two arms came out from my sides and took hold of my hands. I leaned back into Jason, just slightly and relaxed as his chest moved up and down with his breathing. He helped me with the rest of the meat and moved toward the sink to pour out the extra grease. I opened the sauce and poured it into another pot, when Jason poured the meat into the sauce, turning up the burner. Next came the noodles, as he filled a pan with water and I turned the burner up to 'boiling'.

We hadn't spoken in several minutes and now stared at eachother in silence as we waited on the food to heat up.

"So, uh...are you still doubting my mad skills?" He asked, trying to break the tension. I shook my head.

"No. I think I believe you. Alright. Let me see if I understand this correctly; you're an amazing cook, speak the langauge of love and support yourself entirely?" I questioned this time. He nodded.

"And I'm very manly." He smirked, much to my dismay, while I blushed.

"Y'know...there are lots of manly men out there-it doesn't mean a thing." She assured me.

"Oh really?" He challenged, with an amused look on his face. "And are any of them as hot as I am?" I was caught off gaurd, not sure what to say. I couldn't say no, but it would be even worse to say yes. I liked Jason and he was hot, but should I tell him? He was the one that kept flirting with me. So he must feel the same.

"No man has ever attracted me so much. Ever." I answered truthfully, at last. He nodded, thinking that over, then turned and stirred the sauce. For something to do, I put the noodles in the boiling water.

He never said how he felt, but went back to as if this were any other day. I cannot tell you how frustrating this was for me.

** Alright. I have some ideas for a twilight fanfic. is this what you desire? if so, tell me in a review and i'll try much harder to keep up with the new story-the way i did for the first 10 chapters of this 1.**

**-I'mBelleGoose**


	18. Chapter 18, part 1

Wow. This is weird. I haven't written or updated in so long. It wasn't by choice, I promise.

Disclaimer: Rachel Caine owns all.

(Alyssa POV)

It wasn't particularly awkward-cooking the rest of dinner with Jason-but very aggravating. He took the bread out of the oven and drained the water from the large pot we boiled the noodles in. He did this expertly. Quick and masculine-like. It didn't take long for his muscles to distract me; to wonder how it would feel to be in those arms, that sculpted chest against my breasts, the chiseled jaw rubbing against my own as we kissed-

"Alyssa?" Jason asked. I looked up at his face. He didnt seem, to be aware that I'd been thinking about his body, but thought I'd merely drifted.

"Sorry. Yes?"

"Dinner's ready. The plates are in the cabinet behind you." I turned and retrieved a few plates. "Would you like something to drink?"

"Um, sure. What is there?"

"I've got water, beer and soda." He reported after ducking into the fridge. Water sounded too bland and I would probably do something stupid if I drank beer.

"Soda, please. " I told him. I put the plates down and began to make him his. It was the least I could do. He was feeding me, afterall, taking me into his apartment at late notice. Wow, I was starting to sound like he was letting me stay here.

He handed me a cold soda and I handed him a plate. From the surprise on his face, he hadn't expected me to make his plate. As he took his to the livingroom, I made my own, then followed him shortly after. It was a small place, the livingroom only able to provide a couch, coffee table, movie system and TV, ensuring that we'd both end up on the couch together, all close. I was about to say something-what, I don't know-just to hear his voice, but he turned the TV on.

"What do you want to watch? We could put a movie in, if you like." He said, handing me the remote. I looked at him at the same time he looked at me, only to be met with a charming smile. "Your choice."

"I-I uh..." I stuttered out. "I don't know. I'm fine with anything."

"Yeah? Scary movie?"

"Sure."

He got up and walked to a tall bookshelf near the hallway


	19. Chapter 18, part 2

So sorry. Only half of chapter got transferred. Disclaimer: Rachel Caine owns all.

Chapter 18, part 2

(Alyssa POV continued)

He got up and walked to a tall bookshelf near the hallway, grabbing a movie. He came back with The Grudge, holding it up for me to see, before he popped it into the DVD player. Coming to sit on the couch again, we both picked up our plates and began eating, watching as the screen was taken over by a pale chick with long black hair that had a problem walking down a flight of stairs normally.

"Mmm." I said. "It's good." I told him, referring to the spaghetti. He laughed, digging into his own plate.

"Told ya." He shrugged as I gave him a stern look. "My only regret is that I had a little bit of your help in this particular delicacy." I shoved him lightly. "Alright, alright. I admit it-" He looked at me. "You were of no help at all." I hit him at this point, where he laughed. "Just kidding." I cracked a smile at this, taking another bite and looking at the screen. The grudge's eyes rolled up into the back of her head-very realistically, I might add. I jumped at the same time Jason did.

I found myself more and more disturbed as the movie continued, only aware that I was in a ball on the couch, arms wrapped around my legs, when Jason's arms went around me in comfort. He was leaning toward me, jaw on the top of my head, encasing me to his chest. I was no longer scared, but preoccupied with how close he was, him smelling of nothing in particular, just Jason. It was a nice smell. I waited until a scary scene came up to give a fake shudder, wondering what he'd do.

I wasn't disappointed.

He pulled me into his lap, kissing the top of my head. I looked up at him, and he stared down at me. I felt my eyes begin to close as I leaned up toward him, before they closed and there was a slight pressure on my lips-soft and moist, yet warm and needing. It felt like forever that we sat there, kissing.

The next thing I knew, it was morning, the sun shining in. We were still on the couch, laying now, with a blanket over us and his arms still around me. Nothing had happened sexually and we were both still fully clothed, but it felt like we had taken a huge step-like we wouldn't still be the same friends when he woke. I had no reason to get up and nowhere I'd rather be. I knew this meant Shane and everyone would catch me coming in late and give me an inquisition, but a moment like this with Jason was more than worth it.

I snuggled into him once more and went back to sleep.

(Author's note): It's been almost two years since I posted and I'm sorry. I'm gonna work to be more frequent again. And the grudge lady seriously freaks me out. Check out my other story!

~I'mBelleGoose


	20. Chapter 19, part 1

Don't be affraid to review. Like at all. I actually kind of like them. Haha. Disclaimer: Rachel Caine owns all.

Chapter 19, part 1 (Claire POV)

I awoke gradually, staring up at the ceiling for a while before I removed my comforter and put pj bottoms on, walking down the hallway and stairs. My first objective: coffee. I made a pot, aware that the others would probably want some, as well. While I waited, I found eggs and bacon in the fridge, and frozen hashbrowns in the freezer. I pulled out two frying pans and a cookie sheet, knowing the bacon and hashbrowns would take the most time, the scrambled eggs the least.

I started to fry the bacon and put the hashbrowns in the oven. I was finishing up the last of the bacon and pulling the hashbrowns out when Eve and Michael walked in, getting their own cups of coffee.

"Mornin'." Shane's voice said a moment or two later. I turned around only to freeze. He pulled milk from the fridge and turned, grabbing a cup and pouring coffee in it, then the milk, stirring it with a spoon-and he did all of this with hair dripping wet, droplets running down his naked chest, the only thing stopping him from being completely naked was the towel draped around his waist.

Eve and Michael's eyes shot up at him, but he wasn't paying any attention to them, only to that coffee.

"Good morning." He said to me, complete politeness in his voice and on his face. "How are you?"

"I'm...fine. Why do you ask?" I knew there was a sharp suspicion coloring my voice, but I also knew he was playing one of his games and I was waiting for his next move.

"Just willing to lend a shoulder or ear if needed." He told me straightly.

"Well, I don't need one-of either." I shrugged. "But thank you." I forced myself to say.


	21. Chapter 19, part 2

Chapter 19, part 2

"Anytime." He smiled. I turned to pour the egg mixture into the pan, when he reached around me. "Here. Let me." I let him only out of a moment of shock, and uncomfortable with him surrounding me. I turned around to leave and his face was right there, blue eyes staring into my own.

Someone walked through the back door, entering the kitchen and bringing us back to reality. We all looked up to see Alyssa, same clothes from the day before, wrinkled, a bleary look in her eyes, hair slightly tangled.

"Where have you been?" Shane asked, a hard tone to his voice.

"A friend's." She shrugged, eyes on the coffee pot.

"A guy friend's?" He asked, upset. I turned to him, still extremely close, sighing.

"Shane-" I began to try and calm him down, getting him off my friend's back. He looked at me and his anger visibly fell...before Alyssa spoke again.

"Yes, actually. I'm a big girl, I'm allowed to have a love life." Shane's face went red and his eyes got big as he still stared at me, too mad to speak.

"Alyssa, no. Please tell me you didn't do anything." I pleaded on both our behalves. She turned to me, a questioning look before she seemed to understand.

"No." She shook her head quickly. "We didn't have sex. I admit, we made out a little, but he didn't try anything like that."

"Hmm. Smart guy." Michael said from the kitchen table. Eve nodded across from him.

"Who?" Shane spat.

"Huh?" She asked.

"Who was it?" I asked calmly, a hand on his arm in comfort.

"Oh..." She blushed brightly and looked over at Eve and Michael. "Jason Rosser." Michael laughed and Eve went white-even through her white-rice makeup. Shane stood straight up and took a few steps toward Alyssa, fury clear on his face. I put my hand on his chest and moved in front of him. He broke from his red vision to look at my hand, then at my face.

"Don't." I told him. "He's the best we could have hoped for 'Lyssa. Don't do anything."

"Alright. I won't." He nodded at me. "Simply because you asked."

(Author's note): One more chapter. Maybe two, depending on if only half want to transfer again. We're almost done!


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